The Season of the Crystal Feather
by Dreamchasereternity
Summary: A mystical crystal is stolen from the king's vault and it's up to Yusuke and the gang to get it back! They get help along the way from three American teens, their "pets", and two demons. Currently being revised, do not read unless you want to be confused!
1. The mystic and her pan of water

Dream: Hello everyone! Currently I'm working on revising this story so as I finish the revisions I will post the chapters. The story is going to be very different from the original and will hopefully make much more sense.

Freckles: Now that that's said, I would like to introduce myself. I am Freckles, Dream's floppy eared rabbit. I was in charge of telling this story and now I'm in charge of making sure my lazy human works on the revisions. Oh, and that's Dream, she's crazy. Ignore her, everyone else does.

Dream: HEY! ::glares::

Freckles: ::smiles innocently::

Dream: Aw! How cute! ::gives Freckles a treat:: Oh! Now for the important stuff!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. I do own Freckles (my rabbit), Nuala, and this ice cream cone! Mm…ice cream...

Freckles: okay...well, on with the story!

* * *

The Mystic and Her Pan of Water:

It was 4 Am on a Saturday morning in August. Koenma was sitting at his desk looking at Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara.

Yusuke was in a light blue long sleeved pajama shirt and light blue long pants that went over his feet. He was wearing black socks. His hair was not gelled back as he had just been rudely awakened and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

Kurama was standing next to Yusuke in a white short sleeved shirt with blue jeans. He was wearing white socks and sneakers. He had gotten up early to get a head start on the coming week's schoolwork just in case Koenma needed them for a mission that week so he was having no trouble staying awake. He had his hands in his pockets as he waited patiently.

Hiei was standing next to Kurama looking bored like always. He was wearing his usual black outfit with the black cloak over it. He had his arms crossed as he stood there waiting for Koenma to tell them why they were called to Reikai.

On Hiei's other side was Kuwabara, which neither of them were very happy about. Kuwabara was wearing only his blue boxers with cats on them and a long grey sleeveless shirt. He had cat slippers on his feet and was holding a plush cat toy while sleeping on his feet.

Koenma frowned at Kuwabara and yelled impatiently, "Will someone please wake him up?!"

Koenma's yell woke Kuwabara. He stood blinking and looking around. Then he remembered where he was and stood straight.

Yusuke glared at Koenma, "Alright, I want some answers! Why did you drag all of us here at 4 Am on a Saturday?"

"I have a very urgent mission for all of you." Koenma paused when he heard Yusuke mutter some curses about never being able to rest.

Koenma then began to look for something on his desk. After pushing a big stack of papers off of his desk and onto the floor he held up a remote control triumphantly. The group turned to look at the TV screen that Koenma turned on.

"What you see here on this screen is a very powerful jewel. This jewel has the power to control the seasons and in the wrong hands it could devastate your world. The jewel was recently stolen from my father's vault and all of you need to get it back before the end of the month."

Yusuke groaned, "How did it get stolen from the vault? I thought you were going to upgrade the security around there!"

"I was, but then I decided to use the money for something more important. See, look at all my Yu Yu Hakusho figurines!" Koenma pulled out a box of figurines that looked like the YYH characters. He took the Koenma figurine and made it so that all the other ones were bowing to it.

Yusuke and the others sweat dropped.

Kurama turned to look at the screen again. The jewel was shaped like a feather and was a very light blue in color. He turned back to Koenma, "Do you have any clues as to where the jewel might be?"

Koenma looked up from his dolls, "Clues? Yes, we've got clues. Now where's Botan she should be back by now…"

At that moment Botan came into the office in her pink kimono. She was being followed by a girl dressed in midnight blue robes. Her eyes were covered by her hood. She was a little shorter than Botan and in her hands she carried a crystal pan that held water in it.

"Well hello everyone! Sorry I'm late Koenma, sir. I had to wait in a long line for this." Botan apologized as she handed a box to Koenma.

Koenma opened the box happily and pulled out a Youko Kurama action figure, "Yes! Finally! I've been waiting for this!" Koenma hugged the action figure tightly, "I love you Youko Kurama figurine!"

Kurama laughed nervously as Koenma began putting the figurine in a diaper and baby bonnet and stuffing a plastic bottle in its mouth. It is quite disturbing to see your boss babying a miniature replica of yourself.

Yusuke pointed at the robed figure, "Who's that?"

The robed figure removed her hood. She had light blue eyes and reddish brown shoulder length hair. Her voice seemed to come from everywhere as she spoke, "I am the mystic known as Nuala. I have been asked to help you locate the jewel."

Yusuke looked at the water in the pan, "Lemme guess, that's your magic puddle of water that tells you the future?"

Nuala's face remained expressionless, "Yes, actually, it is."

Yusuke blinked a couple times. Once Nuala had her back turned to Yusuke he pointed at her and twirled his finger by his head to indicate to the others that he thought she was crazy. Kurama pushed Yusuke's hands down and hissed to him to show some respect.

"I cannot show you the location of the jewel. It is protected by its own strong magic. I can, however, show you where to find three that are closely connected to the jewel and the three guardians that protect them." Nuala put her crystal pan down on Koenma's desk as she spoke and put her hands over it. She began to chant and the water began to glow and form into images.

The images in the water were projected into the air for all to see. They were mixed images and confusing. The images gradually started to form into recognizable shapes. Three shadowy figures were seen in a circular frame of vines. Though no details could be seen of them, it was obvious that the one in the center and the one on the left were girls. An image of the US appeared behind them and then narrowed to an image of New York. The circular frame then shrunk and became a sparkle on the fish shaped island that was part of New York. The image disappeared and then three other images appeared. These were outlines and not just any outlines, they were animal outlines. There was the outline of a rabbit with floppy ears in the center. On the left was the outline of a furry cat and on the right was the outline of a dog.

Nuala took her hands away from the pan and the images faded. She turned to face the group. "Those images you just saw were clues. You have to find the three I spoke about in the place indicated on the map of 'New York'. Their guardians are in the form of three animals currently considered to be no more than pets. Do you have any questions?"

Kuwabara raised his hand, "Can we go home now? I'm tired."

* * *

Freckles: Well?

Dream: I'd say that was a lot better than before. ::Nods::

Freckles: Now off to work on revising the second chapter!

Dream: I'm going to be in the next chapter!

Freckles: ::nods:: I will be too. It's going to be told from my point of view.

Dream: Review, please!


	2. Hop goes the rabbit!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters, or the park with the lake in the middle. I do own Autumn, Nuala, Freckles, and...Um...I think that's it. Sad, ne?

* * *

Hop Goes the Rabbit:

Later that morning, Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara got together and took a plane to New York. They would have had other means of transportation, but Koenma had spent the funding for that on a life sized Teenage Koenma inflatable toy. After the long plane ride Yusuke fell asleep in their hotel and wouldn't wake up, so the gang didn't start looking for the three people until the next morning at 9 Am. Kurama was wearing his white Chinese outfit (the one from the beginning of the dark tournament). Yusuke was wearing his green uniform. Kuwabara was wearing his blue uniform. Hiei, like usual, was wearing all black with his katana carefully concealed under his black cloak.

They were on their way to a state park with a big lake in the middle. People were out on the lake in bright colored paddle boats when they got there. Other people were running around playing Frisbee. As they watched one Frisbee game, a random old woman got hit with the Frisbee and started chasing the kids around with her cane held over her head and screaming curses at them.

It seemed to be a very pleasant park. The four boys found a nice spot overlooking the lake that was free of goose droppings and sat down. They started thinking up ideas on how to find these people. Or rather, Kurama and Hiei came up with ideas while Yusuke and Kuwabara pointed out hot girls in the park. As they talked some random guy in a cheap duck costume ran and jumped into the lake while screaming 'Quack'. He sank to the bottom of the water and everyone went about their business as if it had never happened.

In a house located in a nearby town, a girl was sleeping soundly. She was having the strangest dream about washing dishes in a restaurant that, as far as she knew, didn't exist. Her room was very messy, with games and things clustered in one corner of the room near the TV. Actually it wasn't as messy as usual since she had made room for her rabbit to run around under her bed.

_Rabbit's point of view:_

Two cages were located along one side of the room. One cage had two small finches in it. The birds were pressed together sleeping soundly on one perch of the cage. The other cage was larger and contained me, a very cute white rabbit with black speckles and black floppy ears. I was wide awake and, after having turned over my food dish, very hungry. It was breakfast time, but my extremely lazy human was still asleep. That didn't surprise me though since she has a tendency to sleep until well into the afternoon when able.

I looked around the room hoping for something that would keep me entertained. The magical box that was in my human's room was off. I guessed that the odd people living inside it needed their sleep too. I had no choice but to sit glaring at my sleeping human. After a while I got very agitated. I was hungry and all she was doing was mumbling something about dishes! She should've been awake and fulfilling her duties as my servant!

I was struck with a wonderful idea. I picked up my food dish awkwardly with my teeth and threw it across the cage. It made a loud crash as it fell. Almost immediately my human sat up in bed. She might be able to sleep soundly through storms, but the second she hears a noise from one of the cages she wakes up. She ran a hand through her shoulder length messy dark brown hair and blinked her blue grey eyes a few times to adjust to the lack of light. She looked over at me and saw me glaring at her.

She looked over at the clock and then returned my glare with one of her own, "Fur ball, what have I said about waking me up before noon?"

The human, Autumn, got up and greeted the birds while ignoring me. She turned on the lights and made sure the birds had food and water. She then looked around.

"Hmm...It feels like I'm forgetting something...What on Earth could it be?" Autumn looked around the room.

I looked down at my empty food dish and thumped my feet in annoyance. Autumn scanned over the room again. "Now, what have I forgotten to do...? Oh well! It must not be important!"

She left the room. I stared down at my food dish again. Then up at the door. She had never forgotten to feed me before. I mean, I always knew she was stupid, but I didn't think she was THAT stupid. The birds looked over at me from their food dish and one started making a sound that was quite like laughing. I glared at them.

A moment later Autumn came back into the room dressed in a black Tee-shirt that said 'I have gone to find myself, If I get back before I return, Keep me here.' on it. She was also wearing a pair of black Capri's and blue sandals. I started chewing on the bars of my cage. Autumn grinned at me.

"Don't worry! I haven't forgotten you! I was just getting my revenge!" She said happily as she opened my cage and put food in my dish.

While I greedily ate my food, Autumn started packing a bag with a water bottle and other things, including food for me. She then took out my harness and leash. After a bit of struggling she had finally gotten the harness and the leash onto me. Then we were off to the park!

As we walked to the park, Autumn looked down at me cradled in her arms. The harness and leash was just a precaution in case I decided to escape from her arms. She had learned from experience that running away and causing trouble are two of my favorite things to do.

"Freckles, don't try to run around the whole park today, ok? I'm too tired to run around today." Autumn said as she smiled at me. I nibbled at her sleeve hoping she would understand that as a promise.

Once we got to the park we had to avoid some crazy old lady chasing children and some police officers dragging a guy in a duck costume out of the park. Autumn had been heading towards the lake when she got distracted by a squirrel. She stood watching the squirrel that was sniffing around on the ground. Bored, I started looking around the park at all the people in it.

There were groups of humans that seemed about the same age as Autumn. In one part of the park there were benches with elderly humans that were feeding pigeons. Little humans were climbing and running around in large play areas designed for them. I turned my attention towards the lake and saw four people there.

One of them had a strange black helmet on his head and was dressed all in green. He was sitting on a tree stump looking at the other three. Sitting next to his stump was a boy with an ugly orange dead animal on his head. He was wearing all blue and had a clueless expression on his face as he listened to the conversation of his companions. Opposite from the helmeted boy was a person with long red hair and bright green eyes. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female from the distance I was at. It was leaning against a tree with its arms crossed and appeared to be speaking to the other three. Sitting on a branch of the tree the third one was leaning against was a black haired boy with black spiky hair that had a white starburst in it. He was glaring down at the others with his inhuman red eyes.

Curious about these strangers and eager to get my owner away from the squirrel, I decided to break my promise. "Oh well, Autumn needs a life, anyways. She'll eventually thank me for this."

I hopped out of Autumn's arms and, since I had caught her by surprise, the leash was easily yanked from her grasp. As I hopped speedily toward the strangers I heard her Autumn call to me. It suddenly struck me that I was free. Freedom is very important to me since I hate being caged. I forgot about the strangers and started to fully enjoy the run over the soft grass. I was enjoying the run so much that I didn't even notice how close I was to the lake.

_Third person POV:_

"Hey...isn't that a rabbit?" Yusuke asked as he pointed at the white rabbit running happily towards the lake.

The others turned to look. The first thing they noticed was the rabbit hopping off the ground and staying in the air every few seconds. Next they noticed the dragging leash. Finally, they noticed the girl running after the rabbit screaming death threats and stuff about 'Rabbit Stew' at the fugitive bunny of doom.

"It's heading straight for the lake." Kuwabara pointed out as he, Yusuke, and Hiei watched the rabbit to see if it would fall in the lake.

"Can rabbits swim?" Yusuke asked.

"I think rabbits are afraid of water..." Kurama blinked.

"Nice." Yusuke grinned as he watched the rabbit.

Kurama frowned at his companions and muttered, "Some heroes you three are..."

"Quiet Kurama, you'll ruin the fun." Yusuke shushed the redhead.

Kurama sighed and started running to catch the rabbit.

_Rabbit's POV_ _again:_

I had my eyes closed when I suddenly felt myself run out of ground to run on. I opened my eyes and looked down to see that I was falling through the air towards the murky water of the lake. I suddenly became aware that I was terrified of water and that once in the water I wouldn't be able to swim or save myself. With this in mind I started struggling. I heard Autumn scream my name in distress.

Before I could hit the water I felt two human hands grab me just under my front legs. My rescuer then lifted me up and held me against their chest so that my head was resting on their shoulder. I looked up to see that my rescuer was the red haired stranger from before. Now that I was close I could tell that it was a boy. He smiled down at me as I nibbled gratefully at his hair.

"Freckles!" Autumn yelled as she ran up to us. The redhead handed me over to her and she hugged me tightly. "You stupid, stupid, stupid rabbit! I told you not to run away! That's it! No bananas for a week!"

"Um...I thought rabbits ate carrots, not bananas." The one in blue said as he and the other two walked over to us.

"Not my little idiot here! He's crazy for bananas." Autumn smiled proudly.

"If you don't like that rabbit, why do you keep it?" The one in green asked.

Autumn shot the boy a death glare and said menacingly, "**_He_** does not appreciate being called an 'it'."

"Whatever you say, Count D.[1]" The one in green rolled his eyes.

"Please forgive my friend; he can be quite rude at times." The redhead apologized to Autumn.

Autumn nodded in understanding. "Oh! By the way, thank you so much for saving my rabbit, Kurama!"

"You...know my name?" The redhead, Kurama, arched an eyebrow at Autumn.

Autumn, with me being held to her with one arm, rubbed the back of her head with her free hand and laughed nervously, "Well, yeah...you see, you guys are on a TV show called Yu Yu Hakusho that I watch all the time..."

"TV show?! You mean we're famous?!" The one in green asked.

Autumn nodded, "Yes, Yusuke, but everyone thinks it's just a fictional story and nothing more. In fact, if they saw you they'd probably think you were crazy people dressing up like the characters because you have nothing better to do with your lives."

"Why don't you think that?" The spiky haired boy asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Autumn.

"That's a good question, Hiei! A very good question indeed...Eh...I'm lacking in sanity?" Autumn laughed nervously again.

Yusuke nodded, "Good enough for me! So, you know who we are but we don't know who you are. That hardly seems fair..."

"My name's Autumn! And this stupid ball of fluff is Freckles!" Autumn smiled.

Kurama took Autumn's free hand and kissed the back of it as Autumn's face turned bright red. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Autumn." He smiled down at her after straightening himself. He wasn't taller than her by much but it was still enough to make him have to look down at her.

"Please, just call me Autumn..." Autumn smiled sheepishly.

Yusuke and the other boy, whose name hadn't been mentioned yet, snickered. Hiei rolled his eyes and shifted his weight in a bored manner. I started watching the clouds in the sky. Autumn absently started petting my head. Kurama seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a moment.

"Hmm...According to Nuala, the three we're looking for have their guardians as pets and there was a rabbit's image among those she showed us...Perhaps this girl and her pet are among those we have to find?" Kurama thought out loud.

Autumn's eyes flashed darker for a moment but I appeared to be the only one that noticed. "Nuala? Guardians? What are you talking about?"

I turned my attention to glaring at the redhead. He was going to respond to Autumn when he noticed my glare. "Umm...Is it my imagination or is your rabbit glaring at me?"

"Yup, he's glaring at you alright! He hates being called a pet." Autumn chuckled, "You had better apologize before he develops a permanent grudge against you."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "It's just a stupid rabbit! It's not like it actually understands what we're saying!"

"Here, hold Freckles." Autumn said, giving me to Kurama.

"Um...ok..." Kurama blinked, wondering what Autumn was about to do.

Autumn stormed over to Yusuke and glared up at him. "What did you say?" She asked between clenched teeth.

Yusuke backed away nervously. Autumn followed with fire in her eyes. I shifted in Kurama's arms so I could get a better view of Yusuke's impending doom. If there's one thing that you never do around her, it's insult an animal. Kurama chuckled a little, seeing me so intent on watching. In all the excitement I had completely forgotten that I was angry at him.

Autumn smirked as Yusuke realized that he could no longer back up unless he wanted to take a swim in the lake. Yusuke looked fearfully at Autumn then back at the lake. He continued looking back and forth between Autumn and the lake. He was stuck between the wrath of a teenage girl that's not all there in the head and a watery place.

Autumn made a fist with her right hand. "Never call Freckles stupid again!"

Yusuke proved that for every action there is indeed an equal but opposite reaction. When Autumn stepped towards him, he turned and jumped away into the lake.

Autumn shrugged and walked back over to Kurama whistling happily. "I knew he was going to do that! Thank you for holding Freckles."

"Was that really necessary?" Kurama asked as he gave me back to her.

"Hey cool! The Yu Yu Hakusho guys!" A voice said from behind us.

* * *

Dream: Who does this mysterious voice belong to? Will Freckles ever find out the name of that ugly orange haired stranger? What the heck happened to that strange man in the duck suit?! Find out the answers to these questions and more in chapter 3 of _The Season of the Crystal Feather_!

Freckles: ::rolls eyes:: Aren't you being just a bit too dramatic?

Dream: Stop trying to ruin my fun!

Freckles: Oh well...Review please people!

[1] Count D is one of the main characters of the Petshop of Horrors (do not own) series. He can speak to animals and doesn't like when people don't show proper respect to an animal. I had Yusuke call Autumn that since it just seemed to fit.


	3. And then there were more

Dream: ::yawns:: Bored…

Freckles: You better not fall asleep during the story because if y—

Dream: zzzzzzzzzzz…

Freckles: …::takes a gel pen and starts drawing on Dream's face::

* * *

And then there were more:

"Hey cool! The Yu Yu Hakusho guys!" A voice said from behind us.

We turned to see a boy around Autumn's age and his big furry brown dog walking up to us. I recognized the boy as Autumn's friend Hinote. He had hazel green eyes and short brown hair. He was wearing a black short sleeved shirt, black baggy pants, and black boots. He stood about yusuke's height.

The dog had a red-orangey tint to his fur. He looked like he should be in snow. He had a curly, fluffy tail and straight ears. I figured that he might be a mix with some Husky in him.

"Aw! Hello there, Tundra!" Autumn said enthusiastically as she pat the dog on the head, making sure to keep me away from him.

"What? No hello for me? No hello for your best friend in New York???" Hinote asked Autumn.

"Nope! No hello for you." Autumn said without looking up at him.

"Grrrr…" Hinote said. He looked at Kuwabara, Hiei, and at Kurama. He then turned back to Autumn, "Well, will you at least introduce me to them?"

Autumn stood up straight, "Ok. Everyone this is Hinote. Hinote, this is Hiei, Kuwabara, and Kurama," She pointed to each of them as she said their names.

Kurama gave a slight bow, "Hello."

"Hey." The one in blue, Kuwabara, waved.

Hiei crossed his arms and turned away, "Hn."

"Hi everyone...Hey...isn't there supposed to be another guy?" Hinote asked, looking around.

"Oh, right." Autumn pointed at the lake, where Yusuke was peering over the edge to see if it was safe. "Dead Meat, oops, I mean Yusuke..." She said as she smiled sweetly.

Hinote laughed. "What'd he do?"

Autumn glared at Yusuke who immediately retreated back into the lake, "He called Freckles stupid…"

Hinote whistled dramatically, "He really is dead meat…"

"Yeah...Hey, I wonder how long he can stay in there until he gets sick or something!" Autumn sounded happy.

"Let's watch!" Hinote grinned.

"Yeah!" Autumn agreed as they both stared at the lake where Yusuke was.

Meanwhile, I decided to try and get away again. Unfortunately, Autumn had a tight grip on my leash so all I accomplished was being put down so that I could wander around in a circle with a two foot radius around Autumn. Out of boredom I ran around her many times, wrapping the leash around her legs. She looked down and glared at me.

"STEW!" She yelled as she started trying to detangle herself from the leash as I tried to keep her tangled in it.

Yusuke, who had quietly crept over to the others while Autumn wasn't looking, joined them in staring at me and her. Autumn, having succeeded only in making herself dizzy, and not in untangling herself, fell over onto the ground. This caused me to fall over as well. We both lay on the ground not moving for a while.

"Um...is she ok?" Kurama asked Hinote.

"Huh? Oh. Oh, yeah, she's fine. They do this all the time. So why are you guys here in the most boring place on Earth?" Hinote asked while ignoring me and Autumn.

"We're here on a mission." Kuwabara said before getting cut off by Yusuke.

Yusuke elbowed Kuwabara, "BAKA! You don't just go around telling people our mission! What if they aren't involved?"

"Are you sure she's ok?" Kurama asked, pointing at Autumn.

Hinote nodded, "Trust me, I've known this girl for years. She's perfectly fine."

"Well, if you say so..." Kurama still looked skeptical.

"What kind of mission are you on?" Autumn asked suddenly. She was sitting up and trying to untangle the leash from her legs again.

Yusuke moved away from her in fear as Kurama helped her stand up once she succeeded. Kuwabara opened his big mouth again, "We're trying to find a crystal that was stolen from Koenma. Some lady named Nuala told us we had to find three people and their pets here."

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled. "I already told you not to tell people about our mission!"

"Oops. Sorry..." Kuwabara rubbed the back of his head.

Autumn looked thoughtful. She then grinned, "We'll help you! After all, you four don't know your way around here so you'll need guides, even if we aren't some of the people you're looking for."

"...Did you just say something smart?! Are you feeling ok?!" Hinote put his hand on Autumn's forehead.

Autumn dug her nails into his arm, "So, you want our help or not?"

"Ow, ow! Stop digging your nails into my arm!" Hinote finally got his arm away and looked at it. "There are marks!"

Yusuke moved even farther away from Autumn. Kuwabara moved back a bit too. Hiei shot Autumn a glare that clearly said 'Come anywhere near me with those nails and I will kill you'. Kurama laughed a bit.

"Sure, we'd love your help." Kurama said cheerily.

"We would?" Yusuke turned to look at Kurama. Kurama rolled his eyes at Yusuke and gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, right! We would." Yusuke smiled the smile of someone who's in trouble if they don't act happy.

Autumn grinned, "Great!"

"So...what do we do now?" Yusuke asked.

I rolled my eyes at the human and spoke, even though I knew they wouldn't be able to understand me. "We sit around here like idiots waiting for one of you humans to use their brain and come up with a good idea."

Tundra looked down at me, "Wow! The rabbit can speak!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" I repeated something I had heard one of Autumn's friends say before.

Kurama had a thoughtful expression on his face. "A rabbit with floppy ears, a dog, and a fluffy cat were the three animals Nuala showed us with her magic. The images also showed two girls and a boy. The image of the dog was in the same spot as the boy and the rabbit was in the spot as one of the girls."

Kuwabara scratched his head, "I'm confused again…"

Hiei scoffed, "What a surprise."

Kuwabara was about to yell at Hiei, but stopped and looked over at me. He then looked down at Tundra. Tundra looked over at me, "What's that orange thing living on his head?"

"I think it's his hair…" I replied thoughtfully.

"Guys, those animals are weird…I can actually sense their spirit energy…" Kuwabara said to the group.

Autumn and Hinote both hit Kuwabara on the head at the same time and yelled, "They aren't weird!!!"

Yusuke pointed and laughed at Kuwabara. He quickly stopped when he saw Autumn and Hinote glare at him. He looked away whistling innocently. Tundra and I laughed silently at the idiots.

"Maybe these four really are who we've been looking for." Hiei suggested.

Autumn tilted her head to the side, "So, the third person would be a girl with a cat?"

"I would assume so." Kurama answered.

Hinote thought for a moment, "Well, since me and Autumn..."

"Autumn and I, not me and Autumn." Autumn interrupted as her writer's instinct kicked in, even though she wasn't paying attention.

"Y'know, that's really annoying!" Hinote snapped at her.

"What?" Autumn asked as she snapped out of her thoughts.

Hinote pointed at her, "That correcting thing! Stop correcting what I say!"

"Oh, was I doing that again? I didn't even notice…" Autumn tilted her head to the side again.

"Grr…Well, as I was saying…Since **_Autumn and I _**are two of the people, then maybe the third person is one of our other friends. Happy now?" Hinote's last remark was directed at Autumn.

"Yes very, but if the last person is supposed to have a furry cat and if she is someone we know then…" Autumn let her words trail off.

She and Hinote looked at each other and yelled at the same time, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Dream: ::wakes up:: Hey did you start the story yet?

Freckles: ::puts gel pens away:: Yes, and finished it too.

Dream: Oh well. So people, how did you like the new and improved third chapter? Review please!


	4. Beware the wrath of Terminator

Dream: Hallo everyone! Freckles is getting snacks so I'm supposed to keep you busy for a bit. Let's see… I know! I'll give you some random useless information! Um…Rabbits can't walk. They spend their entire lives hopping. o.O That's gotta be tough…

Freckles: I'm back! Hope you didn't scare away any of **_my_** readers…

Dream: ::sniffles:: Nobody loves me…

Freckles: Aw...I love you! You feed me! n.n Can I have food now?

Dream: You don't consider this food? ::Grabs a random snack::

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters, Tundra, Hinote, Flash, Terminator, Precious or Margaret. I do own Nuala, Autumn, and Freckles.

Freckles: Lookie! I can make little faces! O.o v.v n.n XP =) =( =3

* * *

Beware the wrath of Terminator:

"Yes very, but if the last person is supposed to have a furry cat and if she is someone we know then…" Autumn let her words trail off.

She and Hinote looked at each other and yelled at the same time, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Tundra and I both tilted our heads to the side. Yusuke and Kuwabara took a step back from the screaming teens. Hiei just glared.

"What is it?" Kurama managed to make Autumn stop screaming and was now waving his hand in front of her face, trying to get her to respond. Hinote was running in circles waving his arms and still screaming.

Autumn had a dazed expression on her face. She snapped out of it suddenly, "Maybe we're wrong! It could be a complete coincidence that we know each other, right? Right?"

Hinote stopped screaming and running in circles, "Hopefully…"

Kurama looked at both of them, he was very confused. The others were too, judging by the looks on their faces. Tundra and I were also confused.

"What's wrong? Do you know who the third person is?" Kurama asked Autumn and Hinote.

Autumn, not wanting to lie to Kurama, nodded. Hinote shook his head vigorously. He glared at Autumn, "No! The third person is **_not_** Margaret!"

"Who's Margaret?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, if she is the third person, you'll come to know her as your tormenter." Autumn nodded as she said this.

"Yeah, she really wants you to die. I mean, so do a lot of us but...umm...you didn't hear that..." Hinote looked around with shifty eyes.

Yusuke started laughing, "Everybody hates you, Kuwabara!"

"That's not true! Yukina doesn't hate me!" Kuwabara yelled at Yusuke.

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "Yukina doesn't hate anybody."

"Oh, yeah, something else you should know about Margaret is that she's an Overly Obsessed Hiei Fan." Autumn pointed out.

"Yeah, she'll probably tackle him the second she sees him." Hinote agreed.

"Or mimic him." Autumn added.

"Or hug him to death."

"Or tie him up with nonflammable rope and keep him hostage in her closet."

"Then she'll probably do horribly perverted things to him that he won't be able to do a thing about since he'll be tied up."

"And she'll probably force feed him mushy icky baby food."

"And then she'll put a collar around his neck and force him to do housework while she sits on her lazy ass watching and drinking a Piña Colada!" Hinote finished the tale.

Hiei scoffed, "I'm not afraid of some crazy human girl. Let's just go get this over with."

"Poor, poor, unsuspecting fool! Alas, I knew thee well!" Autumn said overdramatically as he began walking toward the exit of the park. Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara followed.

"Ok! You four have fun! We'll catch up with you later!" Hinote yelled and waved.

Autumn also waved, "Nice meeting you!"

"You aren't coming?" Kurama asked as he and the others turned around to look at them.

Autumn and Hinote shook their heads furiously. Yusuke rolled his eyes, "But you were so eager to help before."

"Yes but before we didn't know helping would involve Margaret." Autumn said to them.

Hinote shivered at the mention of the name, "Seriously! I'd rather be locked in a closet full of spiders than go see her! And I'm terrified of spiders and closed places!"

"She can't be nearly as bad as you make her out to be..." Kurama pointed out.

Autumn and Hinote looked at each other. They then looked back at Kurama and nodded slowly. Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged worried glances. Hiei looked bored. Kurama rolled his eyes. Tundra was dozing off. I started grooming myself since my fur had gotten a bit messed up during the time we spent at the park. When it comes to my fur every hair has to be in just the right place.

"Will you please introduce us to her?" Kurama asked.

Hinote narrowed his eyes, "What's in it for us?"

"The knowledge that you've helped save the world from certain doom?" Kurama suggested.

Hinote thought for a moment then shook his head, "Nuh-uh. Try again."

"Oh, fine. Let's just go." Autumn finally gave in.

"Traitor!" Hinote yelled as she walked away with me hopping behind on my leash.

Autumn walked back, grabbed Hinote by the ear and started dragging him and Tundra after the others.

_Later in front of Margaret__'__s house: _

"You do it." Hinote pointed at Autumn.

"No, you do it!" Autumn pointed back at him.

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Yusuke!" Autumn pointed at Yusuke. "Go ring the doorbell."

Yusuke pointed at himself, "Why me?"

"Because I said so and if you die it won't matter." Autumn pointed out.

"Gee, thanks, I feel so loved." Yusuke rolled his eyes.

Autumn showed her nails and hissed. Yusuke quickly walked up the stairs to the front door. He hesitated for a moment and looked back at the rest of us. Autumn shot him a 'do it or else' glare. He turned and rang the doorbell. A moment later the door opened slightly and a girl with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a white short sleeved shirt and jeans peered out at them. She then flung open the door and ran down the stairs where she flung herself at Autumn.

"AUTUMN!!!! I've missed you! Why haven't you called me at all?!" Margaret yelled in Autumn's ear while giving her a death hug.

Autumn turned to Hinote and hissed, "Help meeeeee......!"

"Ha-ha! Sucks for you!" Hinote said quietly to her as he pointed and laughed.

Autumn glared at him and decided to get revenge, "Margaret, Hinote's here too."

"He is?! HINOTE!!!" Margaret's hug of doom was now on Hinote.

Hinote glared at Autumn, "Gee thanks."

"You're very welcome!" Autumn grinned at Hinote.

Hinote pointed at Hiei, "Look! There's Hiei!"

"HIEI?!?! I LOVE HIEI!!!" Margaret ran inside her house.

Hinote collapsed to the ground breathing heavily. Tundra sniffed at the boy. I did the same as Autumn waited to see what Margaret was doing. Yusuke was still standing on the steps near the doorbell. He was blinking rapidly. Kuwabara was staring dumbly at Hinote. Hiei had his hand on his katana ready to kill Margaret if she tried anything the likes of which Hinote and Autumn had spoken about before. Kurama sighed and rubbed his forehead. This seemingly simple mission was turning out to be very complicated.

A moment later, Margaret came back out with a fake Jagan eye on her forehead and carrying a cardboard katana. She walked over and poked Hiei's arm with the katana. "Hi Hiei! I'm you!"

"Only taller!" Kuwabara laughed.

Margaret glared at him and then started hitting him repeatedly with the cardboard katana. "Shut up, Kuwabaka!" "Uh… Margaret? They're on a mission. Let Kuwabara see Precious." Autumn said to Margaret.

"Ewwww! There is no way I'm letting that…that...**_THING_**…near my cat!" Margaret said pointing at Kuwabara.

"Please? It's very important." Kurama asked nicely.

"No!" Margaret said.

Hinote rolled his eyes, "Oh come on. Just let him see the dumb cat."

"She's not dumb!" Margaret yelled, throwing a shoe at Hinote.

Autumn smirked, "Margaret, the sooner you let Kuwabara see your cat, the sooner he'll leave and you won't have to see him again."

"Oh! In that case, she's right inside. Follow me!" Margaret started leading the way into the house.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at Hinote. Hinote glared while rubbing his head. All of us followed Margaret inside and around the house until we got to a room that had a computer in it and a couch near the window across from the computer. On the couch was a fluffy white cat with blue eyes and a flat face.

The cat smiled, showing me her fangs and then spoke in a hissy voice, "Hello there, funny looking one. Care to join me for a bite?"

I shuddered and Tundra let out a low warning growl. Hinote pulled on Tundra's leash, thinking that Tundra was going to go after the cat. Autumn picked me up and held me close to her since she saw I was uncomfortable.

"This is my cat, Precious." Margaret stated.

Kuwabara stared long and hard at the cat. "Hmmm…I can't sense anything special about this cat…"

"So you mean coming here was a waste of time?! We had to suffer for nothing?!" Hinote was furious. He turned to glare and point at Autumn. "You! You made us come here!!"

"Stop pointing fingers. It's not like I dragged you here by the ear or anything..." Autumn said.

Hinote rolled his eyes, "But you did drag me here by the ear!"

"Oh. Well, in that case..." Autumn pointed at Hinote and laughed.

Kurama interrupted the impending argument, "Do you know any other girls with a cat?"

"Hmm...let's see...Terry has two cats, Heather has cats, Flash has a cat..." Autumn was counting on her fingers.

"Ok! Ok! We get the point! A lot of people you know have cats!" Yusuke interrupted.

"So, how do we decide who to go to next?" Hinote asked.

Autumn crossed her arms and stated smartly, "We use a highly efficient scientific method that has been used for centuries..."

"And that is...?" Hinote prompted.

Autumn took a piece of paper, a marker and a hat out of her backpack. She wrote on the paper and tore it into small pieces. She then stuck those in the hat and held it out to Hinote. "Pick a name!"

Hinote reached into the hat and picked out a piece of paper. He showed it to Autumn. Autumn shook her head, "No, pick another one."

"That hardly seems fair..." Kurama said as he watched Hinote pick another name.

Hinote read the name out loud, "Flash..."

"Flash it is!" Autumn smiled happily.

Margaret frowned, "You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Hinote said simply before walking out of the room.

Margaret smiled suddenly, "I'm coming with you!"

"Now, Margaret, this is a very dangerous mission and you may not survive if you come with us..." Autumn said, trying to convince her not to go.

Margaret started clinging to Hiei's arm, "Wherever Hiei goes, I go to!"

"Get...away...from...me..." Hiei hissed.

Autumn pointed out the door, "To Flash's!"

_Later, outside Flash__'__s:_

"This place is HUGE!" Yusuke yelled as he gaped at the mansion in front of us.

It was a pretty big house; three stories high four including the basement. There were two columns holding a small roof above the door up. It was a grayish white house with blue shutters and what not. There was a Willow tree in the front yard along with many other plants and flowers. (A.N: From my friend's fic, Lioness)

Autumn walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. A moment later the maid, Trish, answered. "Hi, is Flash here?" Autumn asked.

"Oh, hello Autumn! Yes, Flash is here, come on in." Trish opened the door to let everyone inside.

We went inside and hung around waiting for Flash to come down from her room. Margaret was still clinging to Hiei. Hiei was trying to get Margaret away. Kurama was watching to make sure Hiei didn't do something drastic and violent. Autumn was staring at a painting on the wall. Hinote was petting Tundra. I was once again grooming my fur. Yusuke and Kuwabara were talking about random boring stuff.

"Hey, what's this Flash girl like?" Kuwabara asked.

Autumn looked over at Kuwabara and grinned evilly, "You'll see."

"Should we be scared?" Yusuke asked.

Autumn shrugged, "Just don't make her mad and you'll most likely live."

"Most likely?" Yusuke arched an eyebrow.

Hinote looked up, "We can't guarantee anything."

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" A girl walked up to them. She had layered black hair that was past her chest and silver bangs. She had golden eyes. She was about Hiei's height. She was wearing a black tank top with black pants that had a chain in the back. I recognized her as Flash.

Behind Flash was walking a black cat that was somewhat fluffy. He had a black leather collar around his neck that had spikes and chains on it. A silver tag was hanging off in the shape of a skull and crossbones that had the name 'Terminator' written on it. The cat had reddish orange eyes that seemed like fire. He had a white bandage type thing wrapped around part of his tail near the tip. He sat down at Flash's feet looking everyone over with uncaring eyes.

"Kitty!!" Margaret yelled as she let go of Hiei to go hug the cat. Hinote caught Margaret by the back of the shirt before she could get close to the cat.

"No touching the cat. He gets violent." Hinote cautioned.

Terminator's tail swished as he smirked evilly, "Humans are fast learners..."

"Not mine." Tundra and I said at the same time.

Terminator laughed, "They are if you attack them."

"Yeah, that's true." Tundra agreed.

"Eh...still no. My human's stupid." I said.

Yusuke pointed at the cat, "Kuwabara, sense anything?"

"Yeah...yeah I can definitely sense this cat's spirit energy." Kuwabara nodded after staring at the cat for a while.

Flash arched an eyebrow, "What's going on?"

"They're on a mission to find a crystal that was stolen from the King's Vault in Reikai and the seer Nuala told them they have to find three people and their guardian animals in order to find the crystal easier. You, Hinote, and I are the three people and Freckles, Term, and Tundra are the animals so we have to help them!" Autumn explained quickly.

Hiei narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Autumn, "We never told you all of that."

"Oh, you know, just gathered the information from different things you've said. Plus, some of it's from the show." Autumn laughed nervously.

Hiei still looked suspicious of Autumn. Flash went to tell Trish that she was going to be gone for a while. When she came back she was wearing a leather trench coat over her tank top and boots that went up to below her knees. She had a ring with a sword on it and a bracelet with a shield on it. She was carrying a bag of provisions. All of us left the house. Once we were on the front lawn we stopped.

"Now what do we do?" Autumn asked Kurama.

* * *

Freckles: So how was that?

Dream: Much better.

Freckles: I thought so too.

Dream: Review, please!


	5. The Queen of Pillow Fights

Disclaimer: I own only Autumn, Freckles, Nuala, and Thorn.

* * *

The Queen of Pillow Fights:

"Now what do we do?" Autumn asked Kurama.

Kurama shrugged, "Nuala only told us to find you three, she didn't tell us what to do after that..."

"Must...fight...urge..." Autumn said as she twitched.

"Don't you dare suggest what I think you're going to suggest..." Flash threatened.

Autumn opened her mouth, "Let's...!"

"That's it!" Flash hit Autumn over the head with a metal pipe that she pulled from the inside of her trench coat.

"OW!" Autumn yelled as she held her head in pain.

Yusuke moved away, "Damn Koenma and his stupid missions! Why do we have to work with these violent people?!"

"Now Yusuke, I'm sure they aren't always like this." Kurama said.

"No, we're not. Usually we're worse." Hinote nodded.

Yusuke groaned, "I quit!"

"You can't quit!" Koenma yelled as he appeared.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!!!!!" Autumn screamed and pointed at Koenma.

Koenma turned to glare at her. "Who the hell are you?"

"Now, that's not very nice. I think little Mr. Grumpy Pants needs to have his mouth washed out with soap." Autumn scolded.

Koenma was fuming. Yusuke burst out laughing. Kuwabara also started laughing. Kurama hid a laugh behind his hand. Hiei smirked. Hinote and Flash pointed at Koenma and laughed. Margaret laughed too. Tundra and I were watching from the greatest distance allowed by our leashes and wondering what was going on. Terminator was nearby watching in amusement.

"How...dare...you! Do you know who I am?!?" Koenma yelled at Autumn.

"Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" Autumn asked with an innocent smile.

Her comment caused more laughter from the group. Kurama was still fighting to hide his laughter and Hiei was still just smirking. Koenma looked like he was about to kill Autumn.

"Humans are so strange sometimes." I said to Terminator.

Terminator shrugged, "Yeah, but they provide us with entertainment so I'm not complaining."

"Calm down, I know who you are. You're Koenma, Prince of Spirit World. Yadda yadda, Irresponsible brat, blah blah, works people until they die, yakkity yak, doesn't do any work himself, etc." Autumn grinned.

Koenma was about to yell at Autumn more when Kurama stepped between them. Koenma glared at Kurama. Autumn stood on the tips of her toes to stick her tongue out at Koenma and make faces at him over Kurama's shoulder.

"Koenma, this is Autumn. She's one of the three people Nuala sent us here to find. Over there is Hinote and Flash." Kurama introduced.

"Hey." Hinote waved.

Flash crossed her arms and glared, "I have better things to be doing than talking to a floating baby."

"I AM NOT A BABY!" Koenma yelled.

Autumn opened her mouth to speak but Kurama put his hand over her mouth. "Don't cause any more trouble, ok?" he asked her.

Autumn brought her hand to her forehead as a salute to show Kurama she promised not to cause trouble. He removed his hand from her mouth and decided to stay near her just in case she forgot her promise. Yusuke had finally stopped laughing. He wiped some tears from his eyes.

"So, why are you here, Koenma?" Yusuke asked.

Koenma relaxed a bit. "Well, I'm here because we have a lead that might help you discover the location of the crystal. You see, there's an ex-thief in Makai that lives near a town where a lot of bounty and treasure hunters gather. The town itself is too dangerous for you to enter especially since a lot of demons want Kurama and Hiei dead."

"Why would anyone want my poor Hiei to die?" Margaret asked.

"Because they're 'traitors'. They side with humans. You watched the Dark Tournament on the show, you should know that." Hinote said.

Koenma nodded, "That's true. As I was saying, the town is too dangerous for you to enter. This ex-thief knows all the gossip of the town so you have to go convince her to help you."

"What if she doesn't want to?" Kuwabara asked.

Yusuke punched his fist into his other hand, "Then we beat her up until she tells us what we want to know."

"Urameshi! You can't hit girls! It isn't nice!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Neither is you walking around in public without a paper bag over your head, but you do it anyway." Flash pointed out.

Yusuke laughed at Kuwabara. Autumn and Hinote snickered. Kurama bit his lip to keep from smiling and Hiei smirked. Margaret frowned because Hiei seemed to like Flash better than her.

Terminator grinned, "That's my human!"

"ANYWAYS, she has to help you because it's part of her punishment for being a thief." Koenma nodded. "Now, I'm going to be sending all of you to Makai near her house. Remember to be on your best behavior! Don't do anything to make me look bad.

"Oh, you don't need our help for that." Flash smirked.

Autumn waved her arms in the air, "I wanted to say that!!!"

"Then why didn't you?" Hinote asked.

Autumn looked over at him, "Because I promised Kurama I wouldn't cause any more trouble..."

Hinote opened his mouth. Autumn pointed at him, "No. Bad monkey, don't you dare say what you're about to say."

"Wasn't gonna say a word." Hinote put his hands up palms out and shook his head.

Koenma rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A blinding light surrounded us and a moment later it faded. We found ourselves surrounded on all sides by a forest. Above us the sky was reddish in color with black clouds. I supposed that we must have been in Makai.

"So where's the demon?" Yusuke asked looking around.

"Don't you listen? Koenma said he was going to send us 'near her house'. That means we probably have to walk for a bit to find it." Autumn explained.

"Makes sense." Yusuke nodded.

We walked through the forest for a few minutes until Hinote and Tundra suddenly stopped at the same time. They both stuck their noses in the air and sniffed. They then both got excited and looked back at the rest of us.

"FOOD!" They both yelled, though the humans didn't understand what Tundra was saying. Boy and dog then ran straight through the forest in the direction of the smell.

Yusuke and Kuwabara quickly followed. The rest of us stood there blinking. I turned to Terminator to see if the cat had anything to say.

"I guess animals grow to resemble their humans..." Terminator said.

I shook my head, "But then that would mean that I'm an idiot! I am not an idiot!"

"You just keep telling yourself that, little bunny foo-foo." Terminator said with a smirk.

I glared at the cat, "At least I don't choke on my own fur."

"Should we go after them?" Margaret asked.

"The question is...Do we want to?" Autumn looked around at the others.

Flash shrugged, "We could always leave them to get killed. Maybe what they smell is a house made out of candy and gingerbread with an old witch waiting inside to feed them sweets until they become fat enough to eat."

"Well in that case..." Autumn picked me up and jogged after Hinote, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Tundra. "Gingerbread, here I come!"

Flash sighed in frustration and rubbed her forehead. "I should've never mentioned sweets."

"We should go make sure they stay out of trouble." Kurama suggested as he and the others started following us.

Autumn and I caught up with Hinote, Yusuke, Tundra, and Kuwabara as they were standing staring at a house in a small meadow. The house was made of wood. A mural type thing of a forest was painted on the sides which made it sort of blend in with the surroundings. The roof of the house was painted a light green to make it look like grass from above.

"Wow...I wanna live here!" Autumn whined.

"But it's so small." Flash pointed out as she walked up.

"I bet it's bigger than it looks. Besides, who'd wanna live in a big mansion? Only snooty, stuck up brats live in mansions...eh heh heh...I mean...um...only people who live in mansions live in mansions?" Autumn laughed nervously and looked at Flash.

Flash glared at Autumn, "Just stop talking, you'll sound smarter."

"Meep?" Autumn tilted her head to the side.

"I'm confused. How can you sound smart if you're not talking?" Kuwabara asked.

Hinote shrugged, "Don't try and make sense of what Flash says because you'll never figure it out."

"BAKA!" Flash yelled as she hit Hinote over the head with the metal pipe.

Kurama sighed and walked up to the house. There was a bronze statue of a dog with horns and fangs next to the door. It was up to Kurama's waist in height. One of its paws was raised and out. There was an old bronze bell hanging above the dog's tail. I assumed that pushing the dog's paw down caused the tail to go up which would ring the bell. Kurama reached out for the dog's paw.

"Wait!!" Autumn yelled as she ran up to him and put me down at her feet.

Kurama turned to look at her, "Yes?"

"Let me do it!" Autumn pleaded. She made her eyes look big and made her mouth into a cute little pout. "Please?"

Kurama smiled sweetly, "All right."

"YAY!" Autumn reached out and pushed the dog's paw down.

As I suspected, the tail moved up and hit the bell causing it to ring. The bell had a pretty sound that reminded me of Autumn's birds. Autumn was smiling happily like a child with a new toy. She was watching the bell swing back and forth. Every time it swung it made a sound. Kurama hid a chuckle behind his hand as he watched Autumn acting like a little kid.

After a moment the door opened to reveal a girl with black hair that reached down to her waist and curious violet eyes. She was a little bit taller than Kurama and she looked to be about 18 years old. Two black leathery dragon wings sprouted from her back and a long black dragon tail was swishing behind her as she studied us. She was wearing red tank top with a black dragon on it and black pants with silver fire up the side of her left leg.

Kurama's eyes widened when he saw her, "Thorn?!"

"Do I know you?" The dragon, Thorn, asked as she tilted her head to the side.

Kurama pointed at himself, "I'm Youko Kurama."

"Wha...? Oh! Oh you are! I'd heard you had taken a human form! And you do look just like that picture the one demon had when he was telling everyone at the tavern to hunt you down and kill you for being a traitor. I completely forgot all about that! Ha-ha! I feel stupid now!" Thorn laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Kurama, please explain." Yusuke said to the redhead.

Kurama was about to answer when Thorn interrupted. She wrapped her arms around Kurama and pulled him close to her. She held him close to her and smiled widely at the rest of us. Kurama blinked in confusion.

"What's there to explain? I was one of Kurama's many lovers!" Thorn stated.

Yusuke grinned, "Kurama, you player!"

"Who'd have thought that goody goody Kurama would have such a dark secret." Kuwabara laughed.

Kurama looked flustered, "I'm not! I didn't...I don't know what she's talking about!"

"No use trying to deny it, Kurama. We know it's true." Yusuke said.

Autumn was glaring at Thorn. Hinote and Flash took a step away from Autumn. I looked around confused. A raised eyebrow was the only indication that Hiei had even been paying attention to the conversation. Yusuke and Kuwabara were laughing.

Thorn laughed and let go of Kurama, "Actually it's not true, I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"You mean you were lying?" Yusuke looked disappointed.

Thorn grinned, "Yep!"

"So how do you really know each other?" Autumn asked. She was no longer glaring.

Thorn's smile widened, "I was part of Youko's thieving group! My brother was too! We were orphans so Youko took us in and raised us. He taught me everything I know about stealing!"

"Youko raised children?" Autumn asked, trying very hard not to laugh.

Thorn nodded happily as Kurama rubbed his forehead in frustration. Autumn burst out laughing along with Flash, Hinote, Margaret, Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei, not surprisingly, looked bored.

"Youko Kurama raising children! Imagine him wearing a motherly pink apron with flowers on it and holding a baby that he's feeding with a bottle!" Hinote choked out between laughs causing more laughter to erupt from them.

_'__Those little...ARGH! Wait until I get my hands on them! They are so plant food!__'_Youko yelled in Kurama's head.

_And that__'__s exactly why I never let you out, Youko. _Kurama said to his demon half.

"So who are the rest of you?" Thorn asked us.

Yusuke stopped laughing, "I'm the spirit detective, Yusuke Urameshi, and these are my helpers."

"That's Hiei, Kuwabara, Flash, Hinote, Margaret, Freckles, Tundra, Terminator," Autumn pointed to each of us and then to herself, "And I'm Autumn!"

"Hello, Nice to meet all of you! Especially you! You cute little bunny you!" Thorn said the last part in a baby voice as she kneeled down to ruffle some of my well groomed fur.

"Cute little rabbits always get all the attention! Not fair!" Tundra whined.

Terminator was grooming his paw, "Stop whining, you're annoying me."

Tundra quickly shut up. I was rubbing my head on Thorn's hand and thoroughly enjoying the attention. Thorn noticed my leash and looked up at Autumn.

"Is he your rabbit?" She asked Autumn.

Autumn rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately, yes."

I thumped my feet on the ground and made a displeased sound. Autumn rolled her eyes, "I'm kidding, hairball. Sheesh, you don't have to be so moody all the time."

"Aw...but it makes him look cute to be moody!" Thorn said as she picked me up.

Autumn waved her arm, "No, don't do that! He hates being held by anyone other than me!"

What Autumn said was true. I started kicking and struggling in Thorn's grasp until she finally put me down. She started inspecting her arms for scratches. Meanwhile I hopped behind Autumn while kicking my feet out to show I was mad.

"Sorry about that...I told you he was moody." Autumn rubbed her head.

Hinote muttered to Flash, "He's not the only one around here that's moody."

"What was that?" Autumn said menacingly as she turned to glare at Hinote.

"NOTHING!" Hinote yelled. "Absolutely nothing! I didn't say a word! Ha-ha! No insults were said by me! La la la!" Hinote started dancing around hoping it would throw Autumn off.

"Tundra...your human's a moron." Term said to the dog.

Tundra let his tongue hang out, "Maybe...but he's fun to be around."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's a moron." Term pointed out.

Thorn stepped aside and motioned for us to enter her house. "Come on in! I was just starting to make dinner!"

The humans took off their shoes before we went past Thorn and into her house. The room we entered was sort of like the living room. The walls and ceiling were painted light blue with clouds on them. There was a white fluffy carpet covering the floor. Hanging from the ceiling, were a series of oriental style paper lamps with lit candles inside them. There were some bookcases along the wall on the right. Along the left wall was a cream colored couch with some light blue pillows on it. In front of the couch was a low glass coffee table with some floor pillows around it. The floor pillows were light pink. In the center of the coffee table was a vase with yellow roses in it. Opposite the door we entered through was a door leading into a hallway. Across the hallway from the living room I could see the dining room with the kitchen attached to it on the right.

"Ack! Too happy! My eyes, they burn!" Flash yelled as we walked into the room.

"Did you do all this yourself?" Autumn asked Thorn.

Thorn nodded happily, "I was bored."

"This room scares me..." Hinote said as he, Yusuke, and Kuwabara made their way to sit on the couch.

"This sucks, there isn't a TV." Yusuke complained.

Thorn tilted her head to the side, "Tee vee?"

"It's a human appliance used for entertainment purposes." Kurama explained.

Thorn nodded even though she still didn't really understand. "Well, make yourselves comfortable! I'm going to go check on dinner!" She stated cheerily before walking off to the kitchen.

"There's something unnerving about a person that cheery..." Flash said as she looked around for some place to sit.

Autumn bent down and took me off my leash as Hinote did the same for Tundra. Terminator had never had a leash to begin with. Lucky cat. Hiei went to stand in a corner. Margaret pulled a floor pillow over to sit near Hiei. Kurama sat down on one of the floor pillows. After some hesitation, due to the fact that the floor pillows were pink, Autumn did the same. Flash walked over to the couch.

"Off the couch, knaves, I want to sit down." Flash said to Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hinote.

Hinote's eyes widened and he gasped. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?!? **_I_** AM NOT A KNAVE AND I AM NOT GETTING OFF THIS COUCH!!!...Yusuke, Kuwabara...get off the couch!"

"Hey! I am **_not_** a knave!" Yusuke yelled at Flash.

Kuwabara nodded, "What Urameshi said!"

"Do you two even know what a knave is?" Autumn asked.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other and then back at Autumn before shaking their heads 'no'. Autumn sighed, "A knave is a male servant."

Yusuke and Kuwabara glared at Flash. They both stood up as if they would fight her but Flash was no longer standing in front of them. Once they had moved, she had moved to the couch and lay down across it with her feet resting on Hinote. Yusuke and Kuwabara hung their heads in defeat and sat down on floor pillows near Kurama.

"Never argue with Flash. That's one of the first things you have to learn. Unless, of course, you're me or Autumn. We argue with Flash all the time and she hasn't killed us yet." Hinote nodded.

"That's because you two amuse me." Flash stated.

I moved over near Autumn and forced her to pet me. Tundra walked to the kitchen to see if he could get a scrap of food. Term hopped onto the back of the couch and stretched out across it. Thorn came out of the kitchen with tea for everyone. After giving everyone their tea she went back to the kitchen. The time that followed was pretty boring. Hinote had relocated himself to a floor cushion across from Yusuke. He, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were talking about random stuff. Flash had her eyes closed making it seem like she was asleep. Kurama had started to play a game of solitaire with cards borrowed from Yusuke. Autumn was watching the card game. Hiei was glaring at Margaret as she talked endlessly about broccoli.

Thorn came back into the room and sat opposite Kurama on a floor pillow. "So why are all of you here?"

"We're on a mission to find a crystal that was stolen from Koenma. He said you might be able to help us..." Kurama answered as he looked up at her from his card game that he had been stuck in for a while.

"I think I remember hearing something about a demon with a powerful crystal hiding in the mountain range just East of the Mist Mountains." Thorn recalled.

"Yay! Our first real clue!" Autumn declared happily as she picked up one of the cards from Kurama's game and moved it onto another card.

Kurama stared at the cards for a moment, "Now why didn't I see that? Thank you, Autumn."

"No problem!" Autumn smiled. I tilted my head to the side when I noticed that her cheeks were a little pink.

Thorn chuckled. "So, Autumn, do you have a boyfriend?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Autumn asked looking quite flustered and embarrassed since everyone was now staring at her and Thorn.

Thorn shrugged. "Just curious since you seem to have a crush on Kurama."

"Ha-ha! That is soooo true! You should see how many Kurama pictures she has on her computer! And..." Hinote was interrupted by an empty tea cup hitting his head.

"No more talking for you!" Autumn said angrily. Her face was somewhat red.

Thorn laughed, "I **_knew_** it! Oh, you two would make such a cute couple! Autumn and Kurama, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-oof!"

"No singing!" Autumn had picked up a pillow from the couch and hit Thorn in the head with it.

Thorn glared at Autumn. Autumn smiled innocently and held the pillow behind her back. "You shouldn't have done that! For I am the queen of pillow fights! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Thorn's maniacal cackling was interrupted by another whack from Autumn's pillow. Thorn picked up a pillow from another couch and began to hit Autumn with it. Thorn and Autumn were laughing while having their pillow fight. Margaret grabbed a pillow and joined in the fight. Tundra began to bark excitedly. I moved near Kurama for safety reasons. The others either watched or ignored the pillow fight.

Hinote sniffed the air, "Hey, is something burning?"

"MY FOOD! Autumn, if any of the food's burnt, I'm blaming you!" Thorn yelled before dropping her pillow and running into the kitchen to check on the food.

Autumn dropped her pillow onto the couch and sat down on the floor pillow across from Kurama. Kurama had resumed his game of solitaire. He looked up at her briefly before making another move. Autumn sighed and rested her chin on the table as she watched Kurama play his game of solitaire. She pointed at a card to move when he paused to look the cards over.

"Stupid cards..." I muttered as I hopped on the table and deliberately messed up the cards.

"Freckles!" Autumn scolded as I started nibbling on one of the cards.

Kurama gently picked me up and moved me onto the floor. He then gathered up the cards and gave them back to Yusuke. Yusuke grumbled as he held up the card that now had bite marks on the top of it.

"I'm sorry!" Autumn said to Yusuke. "He gets really annoyed when people don't pay attention to him!"

Hinote grinned, "Wow, you and Freckles are a lot alike! You both want Kurama's attention!"

"Hi...no...te..." Autumn growled.

Hinote laughed nervously, "Shutting up now!"

"Speaking of fan girls, I think Hiei's about to kill his." Yusuke pointed at Margaret that was clinging to Hiei's leg while Hiei was reaching for his katana.

"Hiei, no!" Kurama yelled as he got up and went to take Hiei's katana away.

Thorn peered through the doorway from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready! Come and get it!"

* * *

For reasons known only to the psycho authoress of DOOM this chapter is lacking in Author's notes. As disappointed/happy as you readers may be because of this author's notes will resume as usual next chapter, unless they get eaten by mutated cheese monsters of cheesy doom. In that case they will resume eventually. Thank you for wasting part of your life reading this pointless message that has no effect on your life whatsoever. You may now go back to your previously scheduled life. Be sure to eat plenty of French fries...with May-o-nnaise!


	6. Fan girl mode

Dream: Hallo people! I...What the...? Who are you?

Mutated cheese monsters of cheesy DOOM: We are mutated cheese monsters of cheesy DOOM!

Freckles: Right and my name is Susan. ::rolls eyes::

Mutated cheese monsters of cheesy DOOM: We have come here to devour the author's notes of this story!

Dream: GASP! No, not my author's notes! That's...that's...so DOOM-ish!

Mutated cheese monsters of cheesy DOOM: MUAHAHA! Exactly! ::begin devouring the author's notes::

Dream: ::to Freckles:: Now what do we do, Susan?

Freckles: u.u;; we run...like scared little forest elves...

Dream: ::whispery voice:: that line was borrowed from the 8-bit theater flash movies. We don't own it.

Freckles: ::runs:: this sucks!

Dream: Well, look at the bright side! At least this is good exercise!

**_CRUNCH_**

::static::

* * *

Fan girl mode:

Thorn peered through the doorway from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready! Come and get it!"

"Hooray!" Hinote yelled as he ran past Thorn and into the dining room followed closely by Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Flash stretched lazily and walked into the dining room with Autumn. Kurama took Hiei's katana and walked after them. Hiei growled and followed the fox boy. Margaret, of course, was clinging to Hiei. Thorn then ushered me, Terminator, and Tundra into the dining room as well.

"What are those dirty animals doing in here? They'll ruin the meal!" Yusuke complained.

Autumn, Hinote, and Flash turned slowly to glare at Yusuke. Yusuke laughed nervously and hid under the table. Kuwabara, who had taken a seat next to Yusuke, looked under the table at him. Kurama sat down on Yusuke's other side. Hiei sat down next to Kurama and Margaret next to Hiei. Autumn was sitting across from Kurama. Hinote was next to Autumn so that he was across from Yusuke and Flash sat across from Hiei. Thorn sat down next to Hinote. Tundra, Terminator, and I sat down near our humans waiting to be given food.

"I wonder how come those three are getting along so well. I always thought that dogs and cats never got along...and aren't dogs supposed to hunt rabbits?" Yusuke asked about us once he sat up.

"They get along just like we do!" Autumn announced indicating her, Hinote, and Flash.

"If they got along just like we do they'd be constantly calling each other embarrassing nicknames and throwing things at each other!" Hinote pointed out.

"Hinote?" Autumn turned to look at the boy next to her.

"Yeah?" Hinote turned to look at Autumn.

"How do you expect them to throw things at each other if they don't have hands?"

Hinote blinked and looked at us. He then looked back at Autumn. "Shut up!"

"You're such an idiot!" Flash yelled at Hinote.

Hinote glared, "Hey! That was mean! Take it back!"

"I was joking!" Flash rolled her eyes.

"It sure didn't sound like a joke!" Hinote pointed out.

Flash sighed in frustration, "Well, it was."

"No it wasn't!" Hinote yelled.

Autumn decided to interrupt, "It was a joke meant to sound not like a joke."

"You....you are too logical and...and...Not Kurama-y!" Hinote said as he pointed at Autumn. "No, just kidding, you're too Kurama, much too Kurama."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Autumn arched an eyebrow at Hinote.

Hinote pointed at her, "It means you're a clone of Kurama except your hair isn't red and your eyes aren't green. Oh and your not as tall as Kurama and his hair is longer. Oh and he's not a girl."

"Actually we're still not too sure about that last one." Yusuke said as he took some food from the plates in the center of the table.

"YUSUKE!" Kurama yelled at his so called friend.

Yusuke grinned, "Relax Kurama, I'm only joking."

"I don't really look that much like a girl, do I?" Kurama asked.

Autumn decided to answer, "Of course not! Except in those pictures they have online where you're in a dress...Like that one that I like where Hiei's dressed like Peter Pan, you're in a dress with your hair tied up with a ribbon and Youko's in a dress with fairy wings and a wand! That one is just sooooooo adorable! But then there's the one where Hiei's dressed like Cinderella and you're dressed in a prince's suit and that one's EVEN CUTER! But neither of those even comes close to being as cute as that one where you're in a lab coat and in that one you don't look like a girl at all!"

"Ok Autumn, it's time to get out of fan girl mode." Flash said.

Autumn squealed, "But he's just so cute!!!"

"You do realize he's sitting right across from you, don't you?" Hinote asked, pointing at Kurama who was now bright red. Autumn looked down, also bright red. Yusuke and Kuwabara were snickering.

"Hiei...dressed as Cinderella?!" Yusuke burst out laughing.

Hiei growled and glared at Autumn. Autumn looked up at him, "Why are you glaring at me?! I didn't draw that picture!"

"Calm down Hiei, you don't want to kill Kurama's girlfriend, now do you?" Yusuke said with a smirk.

"YUSUKE!" Autumn and Kurama yelled at the same time.

Thorn sighed, "Alright everyone, let's stop arguing and eat."

Everyone agreed and soon the dining room was full of idle chatter and the sounds of people eating. Tundra and Terminator were given some meat. Terminator had discovered that Kuwabara loved cats and was playing off that in order to get more table scraps.

"Term, stop eating things the baka gives you. He's diseased and I don't want you getting sick." Flash said.

"HEY!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Hay is for horses." Flash responded.

Hiei was inching away from Margaret as she inched closer to him. "Kurama, give me back my katana." Hiei growled.

"No, Hiei, you can't kill humans. It's against the rules." Kurama responded.

Hiei reached around the fox to try and get his katana, "I don't give a damn about the rules! This moron's annoying me!"

"Wha...? You don't love me, Hiei?" Margaret asked.

"NO!" Hiei yelled.

Margaret's eyes filled up with tears. She ran out of the room crying hysterically. Hiei sighed in relief. Yusuke and Kuwabara decided they didn't care and went back to eating. Kurama frowned at Hiei.

"That was quite rude, Hiei. You should apologize to her." Kurama said to Hiei.

Hinote shook his head. "No! If he does that she'll think he loves her and she'll never leave him alone! Besides, she cries all the time so it's not like this is anything new."

"Yeah, she'll be over it and clingy again by morning." Autumn agreed.

Hiei growled, "Damn human..."

"Something wrong Autumn? You haven't eaten any of the meat…" Thorn asked concerned.

"Oh, I'm a vegetarian." Autumn said with pride.

Hinote nodded, "Yeah, she's basically just like her rabbit. Only she doesn't eat wires or hump stuffed animals...as far as we know..." Hinote looked suspiciously at Autumn.

Autumn hit him in the back of the head. "Moron!"

"You and Flash are so mean to me!" Hinote yelled.

Flash shrugged, "You always set yourself up."

"But it's still mean!" Hinote whined.

Autumn shrugged, "Well, we could always move on and torment...the defective detective!"

"Who's that?" Thorn asked.

Autumn pointed at Yusuke, "That's my nickname for him because he's an idiot."

"Ha-ha! That's a good nickname for you, Urameshi!" Kuwabara pointed and laughed at Yusuke.

Yusuke glared at Autumn, "You are really annoying."

"Thank you ever so much!" Autumn said in a sweet voice.

Thorn looked thoughtful, "So is that like a hobby of yours? Coming up with nicknames for everyone?"

"I guess you could say that." Autumn nodded.

Hinote decided to add to that, "Not just any nicknames, they're really annoying nicknames."

"I have an idea!" Yusuke announced.

Autumn, Thorn, and Flash started to clap enthusiastically. Hinote soon caught on and also clapped. Kurama coughed to hide his laughter. Hiei smirked and Kuwabara was confused. Yusuke glared at everyone.

"My idea is that we can have a contest to see who can come up with the best nicknames."

Flash looked interested, "What do we win?"

"Oh! I have something that can be a prize!" Thorn left the room for a moment and came back with a gold necklace that had a light blue jewel pendant on it. It was emitting a bright light from the jewel.

"SHINY!" Autumn yelled and pointed at it.

Kurama put his hands up palm out. "I don't want to take part in this."

"So you and I can be the judges!" Thorn announced.

Kurama nodded in agreement. Yusuke pointed at Kurama, "Now don't go giving free points to your little girlfriend just because she said you were cute."

"Yusuke!" Kurama yelled as Autumn threw a loaf of bread at the defective detective.

Thorn clapped her hands, "So let's get this contest started!"

* * *

::Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep::

We are experiencing technical difficulties involving cheese. Please stay tuned for further broadcasts.


	7. The Name calling contest, Round 1

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed between this chapter and the last one where I said the disclaimer. I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters, Flash, Terminator, Hinote, or Tundra. I still own Autumn, Freckles, Nuala, Thorn and The Crystal (which I forgot to mention before)

* * *

The Name-calling contest, Round 1:

Thorn clapped her hands, "So let's get this contest started!"

"What's the point? No matter who wins Autumn's going to wind up with the pendant." Hinote pointed out.

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, "How?"

"She'll force the person to give it to her. That or she'll take it. She really likes shiny things." Flash pointed at Autumn who was staring at the pendant.

"Hey Autumn, if you agree not to steal the pendant from the winner I'll get you a picture of Kurama naked." Yusuke said.

Kurama nearly spit out his tea, "YUSUKE!!!"

"Kurama naked?! WHERE?!?!" Autumn looked around expectantly.

Flash hit Autumn's head, "Bad! No fan girl!"

"So how about it?" Yusuke asked.

Autumn considered it, "Throw in some Strawberry YanYan and a picture of Kurama with his hair in a ponytail and it's a deal."

"WHAT?! You two can't be serious!" Kurama yelled.

Yusuke reached his hand out for a shake, "Deal."

Kurama looked back and forth between Autumn and Yusuke in horror, "Surely this is some kind of a joke!"

"Sorry Kurama, my interests come before your dignity." Yusuke nodded.

Autumn had a disgusted look on her face, "Eww! You were serious?! You pervert!"

"You mean you don't want a naked Kurama picture?" Hinote was shocked.

Autumn shook her head, "I have screen caps from the movie for that! Even if in the movie you can't see anything because of shadows it's still him naked..."

"Now who's the pervert?!" Yusuke yelled.

Autumn rolled her eyes, "It's not real! You were going to actually spy on him to get that picture! If I'm gonna have a naked Kurama picture I'll get it myself!"

"CAN WE PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT?!?" Kurama yelled loudly. His cheeks were red from embarrassment and he looked kind of angry.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Autumn said as she brought her hand to her forehead in a salute.

Kurama sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. Thorn grinned, "Before we start does anyone want a sugar cookie?"

"Did you say sugar cookie?" Autumn asked as she quickly looked over at Thorn.

Thorn handed Autumn a cookie. Autumn poked Flash and declared happily, "Look! I got a sugar cookie!"

"SHIT!!! WHO GAVE HER SUGAR?!" Flash yelled as she jumped out of her chair.

Thorn blinked, "I did...Is that bad?"

"YES! She gets super hyper with sugar in her system!!" Hinote yelled.

"I do not!" Autumn countered before devouring the cookie.

I let out a noise of displeasure and ran under Kurama's chair for safety purposes. Kurama blinked, "Surely she can't be that bad."

"You'll see." Flash stated simply.

Thorn smiled, "Now for our contest!"

"Yay! Who goes first?!" Autumn looked around perkily.

"Alright, this is how it will work. We'll have different rounds of one-on-one name calling. You can say things to the other person as long as what you say has an insult somewhere in it. The first one to freak out or say something without an insult in it is the loser. The winner then advances to the next round. Are there any volunteers?" Thorn looked around.

"I will!" Kuwabara raised his hand.

"In that case Hiei has to go too. It's expected, it really is." Hinote nodded.

"Alright, the first match will be Hiei vs. Kuwabara." Kurama announced as he took out a piece of paper and a pen to keep track of the matches.

"Begin!" Thorn yelled.

Kuwabara pointed at Hiei, "Shorty."

"Target practice," Hiei said as he aimed a fork at Kuwabara's head.

Kuwabara glared, "Runt."

"Dragon food," Hiei reached for the bandage around his arm.

Kuwabara freaked out and dove under the table. I immediately ran to where Tundra was for protection against the idiot. Tundra seemed to be confused and Terminator was quite amused. Autumn, Yusuke, Flash, and Hinote started laughing at Kuwabara. Kurama crossed off Kuwabara's name on the score sheet. Thorn rolled her eyes.

"Well, who's next?" Thorn asked.

Autumn raised her arm, "ME!"

"I'll go. I'm going to get my revenge against you!" Yusuke pointed and glared at Autumn.

Kurama nodded and wrote down the names, "Alright."

"Begin!" Thorn yelled, doing a little dance for no reason.

"Baka onna!" Yusuke yelled at Autumn.

Autumn glared at Yusuke, "Defective detective."

"Inu." Yusuke sneered.

Thorn was watching Kurama carefully. Kurama was gripping the pen tightly and watching the round. The rest of us were watching to see who'd come up with the best insult.

"Elephant following pooper scooper," Autumn leaned back in her chair. She looked sort of bored.

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, "Psycho..."

"Why thank you, Mr. Mort the Chicken." (A.N: It's a video game. Don't own it.)

"Mental hospital escapee," Yusuke pointed at Autumn accusingly.

"Homicidal hobo bent on world domination by genetically altering Brussels sprouts to follow your every command."

"What the hell?!" Yusuke yelled.

Autumn pointed, "HA! That wasn't an insult! I win, you lose! Game over, monkey!"

"Damn!" Yusuke crossed his arms and frowned.

Thorn had taken a liking to her position as announcer, "And Autumn is the winner!"

"Well, there's a surprise." Flash rolled her eyes.

Autumn went to look over Kurama's shoulder as he crossed off Yusuke's name. "Congratulations." Kurama said to her.

"Thank you, Fan girl magnet." Autumn nodded and smiled.

Kurama rolled his eyes, "Getting ready for the next round?"

"Nah just felt like bothering you. Yusuke, abandon your chair. I'm sitting there now." Autumn pointed at Yusuke.

Yusuke smirked, "You want to sit next to your boyfriend?"

"No, I want to sit somewhere safe. Sitting between Flash and Hinote during their match is not good for my health. I won't kick Hiei out of his chair because he's violent and I won't kick Kuwabara out of his chair because it's diseased since he touched it." Autumn answered.

"You may sit here if you'd like." Kurama suggested, getting up from his chair and offering it to Autumn.

Autumn squealed and sat down, "I'm sitting in a chair that Kurama was sitting in! Ah, warmth left over from Kurama!"

"Enough with the fan girl stuff!" Flash threw a roll at Autumn.

Kurama pulled a chair between Hiei and Autumn. He then sat down and prepared his score sheet for the third match. Autumn poked his hand while he was writing. He stopped and looked at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"You write too neatly. I'm trying to get you to mess up." Autumn explained.

Kurama made a dot on the paper with the ink, "Better?"

"Almost...The paper's too plain." Autumn took the pen and drew a little fox with four tails on the top of the page. She wrote next to the fox, 'Fox boy's score keeping list of DOOM'. She handed Kurama back the pen, "That's better."

Kurama chuckled slightly. Thorn grinned at them, "If you two lovebirds are done flirting, we can start the match."

"Go ahead." Kurama stated and looked down in embarrassment. Autumn did the same.

Thorn nodded and yelled, "Begin!"

"You won't win, knave." Flash pointed out.

Hinote glared, "I am not a knave, coconut cream pie."

"Give up or I'll kill you, idiot."

"You can't scare me, moosenberry pie."

"Moron."

"Cheese."

"Loser."

"You have no life."

"At least I'm not obsessed with cheese, fairy boy."

"Mean person."

"Crybaby."

"Violent."

"Sissy."

"Insane."

"How long do you think this will last?" Yusuke asked Autumn.

Autumn sat back in her chair, "Well, considering the fact that both of them are extremely stubborn and hate losing...Maybe a few hours."

"A few hours?!" Yusuke hissed.

Autumn shrugged, "Either that or things will get violent."

"How violent are we talking?" Yusuke asked.

"Seeing as how there are knives close to Flash and considering that Hiei's katana, which Kurama left in the corner by the animals, is also within Flash's reach, I'd say it'll get pretty damn violent." Autumn nodded.

Yusuke grinned, "Sounds like it'll be entertaining."

"Hopefully it won't come to that. If it does we'll stop them." Kurama said.

Yusuke frowned, "There he goes again, ruining my fun."

"If one of them doesn't lose within the next three minutes, I'm going to call it a tie." Thorn announced as she came over to the others.

"But what about the violence?!" Yusuke whined.

Autumn stuck a fork in Yusuke's hair, "Violent enough for you?"

"How is that...? ITAI! This damn fork is stuck!" Yusuke started struggling to get the fork out of his hair. He finally pulled it out along with a clump of his hair. He turned to glare at Autumn, "I will have my revenge."

"Ah, excellent choice, sir. Would you like fries with that?" Autumn mocked.

Thorn put her hand on Autumn's head, "You know what, kid? I like you. I have a feeling that this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Wife beater!" Hinote yelled at Flash.

"He-who-has-no-brain is running out of insults." Flash pointed out.

"Silence non-worshipper of cheese!" Hinote pointed at her.

Thorn put her hands up, "Because I'm getting bored with this round, I will declare it a tie!"

"Hn." Flash crossed her arms.

Hinote was still going on, "Hiei obsessed fan girl!"

"What?!" Flash glared at Hinote.

Autumn shook her head, "Hang on! Flash isn't a fan girl!"

"That's right." Flash nodded.

Autumn pointed, "Flash can't be a fan girl because one of the major parts of fan girl-ness is the fan girl squeal. Flash doesn't squeal. So you see, while Flash may be completely obsessed with Hiei and go crazy every time she sees a shirtless picture of him, she is not technically a fan girl."

"Gee, thanks a lot Autumn." Flash glared.

Autumn grinned, "You're welcome!"

"So we've got two girls that are obsessed with Hiei traveling with us." Yusuke observed.

Hiei growled. Hinote thought out loud, "Yeah, but Hiei hates Margaret. Flash might have a chance though. Both of them are violent, antisocial, and short!"

"Call me that again and I'll kill you." Hiei and Flash said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise, then crossed their arms and looked away. Everyone started laughing.

Flash picked up Hiei's katana and held it threateningly while glaring at everyone. Hinote and Autumn quickly stopped laughing. Hinote dove under the table and Autumn clung to Kurama.

"She's gonna kill us!!" Autumn yelled.

Kurama sweat dropped. Thorn stopped laughing and cooed at Autumn and Kurama, "Aw! You two look so cute together."

"So when does the next round start?" Flash asked as she gave the katana to Hiei. Autumn let go of Kurama and glared at Thorn.

Thorn looked at the table. "It'll start as soon as these dishes are done. I know, whoever helps me gets a sugar cookie!"

Autumn and Hinote hurriedly rushed into the kitchen with a bunch of dishes. Kurama also picked up some dishes and brought them to the kitchen. Thorn brought the rest. After a while all the dishes were cleaned and everyone except Margaret, who was still off crying somewhere, was gathered in the living room. Terminator was on the back of the couch, Tundra was near Hinote, and I was under the coffee table. Kurama was sitting on the mat he had been at before. Autumn was sitting on the arm of the couch; Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting on mats near Kurama. Flash and Hinote were on the couch and Hiei was standing in the corner.

"The rules for this round are simple: the first match will be chosen randomly. The winner of that match will then go on to face a randomly chosen opponent and the winner of that match will face the final person. All the rules from before apply. Let the final round begin!" Thorn announced as she took out a hat that had names in it. She chose two names from the hat and gave them to Kurama.

"The first match will be...Hinote vs. Hiei!" Kurama read from the papers.


	8. The Name calling contest, Final Round

Dream: Dream has finally found a way to keep the mutated cheese monsters of cheesy doomness from destroying everything. She has brought goats to eat the cheese. Dream did not think the goats would like cheese but they do so who is Dream to question the mighty taste buds of the goats?

Freckles: Why are you talking about yourself in 3rd person?

Dream: Dream finds it amusing.

Freckles: I find it annoying.

Dream: Dream says that she does too but it amuses her. Give her a couple of hours and she will most likely outgrow the phase.

Freckles: You really need a life.

Dream: Dream thanks you, strange furry creature that can somehow speak English. Now, Dream commands you to say the disclaimer so that the story may start.

Freckles: Alright...Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. Flash and Terminator belong to Winter –iel –o burzum. Hinote and Tundra belong to her friend Mike. All other characters and the crystal belong to Dream unless otherwise noted.

Dream: On with the story!

* * *

The Name-calling contest, Final Round:

"The first match will be...Hinote vs. Hiei!" Kurama read from the papers.

"Yeah! Come on Hinote! Beat that three-eyed little maggot back into the ground where he belongs!" Autumn yelled loudly because of the effects of the excess sugar in her system. Yusuke and Kuwabara started laughing at Hiei.

Flash turned slowly to glare at Autumn, "What did you just call Hiei?"

"Eh...terrifying lobster masher?" Autumn suggested in an attempt to save her remaining brain cells from Flash's fury.

Flash arched an eyebrow, "I know that's not what you said but I'm going to let you get away with it because you're hyper..."

"Yay!" Autumn grinned and hugged Flash tightly.

Flash started struggling and managed to choke out, "Can't breathe..."

"Hey, your face is turning blue! That's bad, right?" Autumn's question was directed at Hinote.

Hinote nodded, "Autumn, maybe you should let go of Flash now."

"Okee dokee Smoky!" Autumn let go of Flash and sat staring at the ceiling and humming _Koori no Naifu wo Daite_.

Flash was gasping for breath. She then glared at Thorn, "This is entirely your fault."

"I've learned my lesson. I won't give her sugar again." Thorn nodded.

Hinote looked bored, "Can we start now?"

"Huh? Oh! Oh, sure. Begin!" Thorn announced.

Hinote pointed at Hiei, "Three-eyed little maggot."

"Simple minded fool." Hiei responded.

"Antisocial loser,"

"Idiot,"

"You...you...Kuwabara lover!"

Hiei growled and reached for his katana, "You will pay dearly for that, human."

"I think that I will not, pyro boy."

"Sword practice,"

"Brother of Yu..." Hinote never got to finish that sentence as Hiei interrupted.

"That's it!" Hiei yelled as he started chasing Hinote around with his sword.

"Due to the fact that Hiei was the first one to say something without an insult, Hinote is declared the winner!" Thorn announced. "Kurama, pick another name out of the hat."

"Alright," Kurama reached for the hat.

Autumn dove off the arm of the couch onto the floor next to him, "Let me pick the name! Pretty, pretty please? I wanna pick the name-y thingy!"

"Um...ok..." Kurama held the hat out to her.

Autumn reached in and made it seem like she was having a hard time choosing, even though everyone knew there were only two names in the hat. She finally pulled one out and read it. "Uwntnb..."

"What the...?" Flash walked over and took the paper. "Idiot! That's your name!"

"My name is Uwntnb? Since when?" Autumn narrowed her eyes at Flash.

Flash held the paper out to her, "When you hold it this way it says Autumn. When you hold it upside down it says uwntnb...sort of...how the hell do you get a b from that?"

"Oh! That's so cool!" Autumn took the paper and started turning it around a bunch of times.

Hinote rolled his eyes and looked at Thorn. Thorn put up her hands in defense. "I'll never give her sugar again, I promise."

"So the next match is Autumn vs. Hinote." Kurama announced.

"Yay!" Autumn announced.

"Not yay!" Hinote looked worried.

Flash rolled her eyes, "Hinote, you chicken, she's sugar happy, she can't possibly win."

"But when she's sugar happy she has an endless supply of randomly put together words that form elaborate and strange insults!" Hinote whined.

"Just start the match." Flash said to Thorn.

Thorn nodded and moved her hand down as if slicing the air. "Begin!"

"Um...idiot?" Hinote started, a bit unsure of himself.

"Very good, Pikushii-chan." Autumn nodded. Yusuke and Kuwabara burst out laughing.

Hinote glared at Autumn, "Stranger person!"

"Monkey feet."

"Loser face!"

"Moronic goat cheese eating shoe monkey,"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, cheesy one?"

"Your idiocy irritates me, make pie now."

"Um...No? I'm not your servant, ya spoiled brat."

"I think you are knave."

"Wow, you can think? Amazing!"

"Ha-ha that was so funny my spleen exploded. I slap you, madam."

"I'm not a madam! If anyone's a madam it's Kurama!" Hinote pointed at the redhead.

Flash moved away, "Uh-oh...He shouldn't have said that..."

"Why not?" Yusuke asked as he and the rest of us turned to look at Flash.

Flash shook her head, "Let's just say fan girls get very protective."

"I KILL YOU, BASTARD MONKEY OF DOOM!" Autumn yelled before lunging at Hinote and biting his leg.

"ARGH! She's attacking me! Get her away! Get her away!" Hinote yelled as he shook his leg.

"Well, since Hinote's last statement didn't have an insulting phrase, I declare Autumn the winner!" Thorn announced.

Hinote fell onto the ground and started trying to crawl away from Autumn. She still was biting his leg. Thorn poked her, "If you keep biting his leg you'll be disqualified and you won't win the shiny necklace."

"SHINY!!" Autumn yelled as she let go of Hinote and sat looking around for the shiny.

Hinote moved away limping a bit and started rubbing his leg. "Damn it, if I had known she would've attacked me for saying that about Kurama I wouldn't have said it!"

"Come on, you know Autumn. You should've expected that. She does twitch violently every time somebody insults Kurama except if I'm the one insulting Kurama. Then she starts insulting Hiei." Flash mused.

Hiei arched an eyebrow. Kurama crossed off Hinote's name on the scorekeeping sheet while Autumn watched him closely out of boredom and hyperness. Thorn declared happily, "The final match will be Autumn vs. Flash!"

"This ought to be interesting as hell..." Hinote said to the others as he took a bag of popcorn out of Autumn's bag and started eating it.

Yusuke leaned back in his chair, "Finally, some good entertainment!"

"Honestly, I don't know how you find friends insulting each other to be entertaining. It seems rather mean to me..." Kurama said quietly.

"Stop being such a goody two shoes!" Yusuke scolded Kurama.

Autumn glared at Yusuke, "You want him to be a drop out idiot like you doomed to spend the rest of his life working in a McDonalds flipping burgers because he doesn't have the education to do anything else and wind up living in a cardboard box in the alleys of a city where he'll eventually get poisoned by the government in an attempt to get rid of the homeless and then his body will be thrown in a river where fish will eat it?"

"Oh sure, make me feel like I'm lower than dirt." Yusuke crossed his arms and glared at Autumn.

Flash smiled, "Oh, but you **_are_** lower than dirt, Yusuke."

"I hate you, both of you." Yusuke said as he glared at the two girls.

Flash and Autumn smiled and gave each other a high-five. Kurama covered his mouth to hide his smile and Hiei smirked. Hinote pat Yusuke on the back.

"You'll get used to it."

"You know you luffels us!" Flash and Autumn said to Hinote at the same time as they stood on either side of him and made themselves look as sweet and cute as possible.

Hinote looked back and forth between the girls and groaned, "What do you two want?"

"Your wallet and all the money in it." Flash said.

"A plush toy fox!" Autumn said at the same time that Flash said the thing with the wallet.

Hinote took his wallet out of his pocket in order to tease Flash. Before he could blink or say the word 'friggermuffin' the wallet was gone from his hands. "What the...? WHERE'S MY WALLET?!"

"Hmm...Only $20...ah, oh well, it's enough to buy me a couple days worth of coffee." Flash grinned and put the wallet into her pocket.

"HEY! That's my wallet!!" Hinote yelled.

Flash smirked, "Why on Earth would **_your_** wallet be in _**my**_ pocket? No, this is **_my _**wallet."

"But...but...that's not fair!!" Hinote whined.

"You'll get used to it." Autumn and Flash mocked at the same time. Yusuke pointed at Hinote and laughed. Hinote pouted and crossed his arms.

Thorn turned to Autumn and Flash, "Are you two ready to start your match yet?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Autumn nodded.

Flash grinned, "Let's get started then."

"Alright, Begin!" Thorn announced. She then sat down near Kurama to look at the doodles Autumn made on the score sheet.

"Crazy." Flash began.

"Violent." Autumn stated.

"Overly happy person."

"Pessimist."

"Optimist."

"Worshipper of the evil goat cheese of doom."

"Pansy worshipper."

"What mean you, knife happy one?" Autumn arched an eyebrow.

"I mean that Kurama's a pansy." Flash nodded.

Autumn's eye twitched, "In that case, Hiei is a Chihuahua."

"Kurama's a girl in disguise!"

"Hiei's a flea."

"Kurama carries dead things in his hair."

"Hiei wears a wig."

"Kurama likes to wear dresses."

"Kurama looks cute in a dress. Hiei is a Snow White wannabe."

"Kurama's a Kenshin clone."

"I have photographical proof that Hiei's Sailor Moon's stunt double."

Yusuke turned to look at Hinote who was eating popcorn from the bag he took out earlier. "How long will they keep insulting Hiei and Kurama like this?" Yusuke asked.

"Until one of them gets violent, of course." Hinote answered.

Kurama and Hiei were sweat dropping. Kurama smiled nervously, "Such strange insults..."

"Sailor Moon's stunt double?!" Hiei asked.

Yusuke started laughing along with Kuwabara. Hinote nodded, "I've seen the picture. It's funny looking."

"PICTURE?!" Hiei yelled causing more laughter.

Hinote had left his popcorn bag hanging so Tundra ran over and grabbed it. "MY POPCORN!!!!!!!" Hinote yelled as he began to chase Tundra around. "TUNDRA!!! GIMME MY POPCORN!!!!!!"

The chase went unnoticed by the two girls as they continued to insult each other's favorite character. After watching the chase for a bit everyone turned back to the contest and started ignoring the boy and dog. Autumn and Flash were glaring at each other.

"Hiei's an escapee from the Munchkin village in Oz." Autumn growled.

Flash glared, "You idiot! I'm the same height as him!"

"Then you both escaped together."

Flash hit Autumn over the head with the metal pipe, "I KILL YOU!!"

"Um...that doesn't qualify as an insult so...Autumn wins!" Thorn announced.

Flash was still repeatedly hitting Autumn with the pipe. Kurama got up and took the pipe from Flash. "That's enough of that!" Kurama scolded.

"Aww...is fox boy being protective of his girlfriend?" Thorn asked in a sweet yet mocking voice.

Kurama grumbled and glared at Thorn. Autumn did the same. The others started laughing. I looked at the humans in confusion and turned to Terminator to ask him what was going on. Before I could ask, Hinote caught one end of the bag of popcorn and started to have a tug-of-war with Tundra. The bag ripped and popcorn went flying everywhere. Hinote caught some of the popcorn out of the air and ate it. Tundra did the same.

Thorn walked over and crossed her arms. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke, "Clean up this mess now or suffer…"

"I don't think he has to clean it up." Autumn pointed at Tundra who was eating the popcorn off the floor.

"No! Tundra! That's bad for you!" Hinote yelled as he tried to pull Tundra away from the popcorn.

Tundra growled and struggled to get more popcorn. The rest of us were watching in mild amusement. Hinote finally gave up and started gathering popcorn from the floor to eat.

Thorn turned up her nose in disgust, "You're going to eat that after it's been on the floor?!"

"Yeah, sure, you saying your floors aren't clean enough to eat off of?" Hinote asked.

Thorn shook her head, "My floors are the cleanest floors in all of Makai!"

"Translation: How dare you insult my pride! I'll tell you that my floors are clean and keep insisting it even if you die from some kind of poison which could very well happen." Autumn nodded.

Thorn glared at Autumn as Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed. Kurama bit his thumb to keep from laughing. Hiei and Flash smirked. Tundra and Hinote continued eating popcorn. Terminator and I watched all this in amusement.

Kurama pointed at the pendant Thorn was carrying, "Shouldn't you give that to Autumn?"

"Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah, here." Thorn handed the pendant to Autumn.

Autumn grinned and hugged it. "Yay for shiny things!"

There was a ringing from Yusuke's pocket. Automatically, Autumn yelled, "Door!"

"It's my communication mirror, baka." Yusuke said as he took out the purple mirror and opened it.

Everyone gathered around where Yusuke was sitting. Botan's face appeared on the screen. "Yusuke, Koenma has some information that might be useful to you. He'd like you to come to Reikai first thing tomorrow morning."

"Fine." Yusuke groaned and closed the mirror.

Flash rolled her eyes, "Oh joy, we get to go to Reikai to visit Pacifier Breath."

"Damn, that just ruined my happy moment." Autumn frowned.

Yusuke pointed at them and turned to Kurama, "See? I'm not the only one that hates him!"

"Everybody hates Koenma." Thorn pointed out.

Flash shook her head, "Not Botan."

"Well, Botan doesn't count. She luffels Koenma." Autumn nodded.

Yusuke perked up, "I sense blackmail material."

"I suppose we should get some sleep, ne?" Kurama interrupted.

* * *

For the sake of giving Dream more time to work on her new fic, this chapter will not have a finishing author's note. Instead, Dream would like to entertain you with this funny Hiei picture.

img25.photobucket.com/albums/v74/blizzardjade/hiei/sailorhiei.jpg


	9. No Sleep for Fox Boy

Dream: A lot of the stuff in this chapter is based off of actual things that happened to me, Mike, and Ari. This might be a good time to remind all of you that Flash is based off of Ari, Hinote is based off Mike, and Autumn is based off me. This is how we really act. Sadly, the three of us are going into 10th grade next year. Do we act like it? Absolutely not.

Freckles: -.-;;; Well, if you want a disclaimer you have to look at last chapter.

Dream: Well, since I don't feel like writing a long author's note, I'm gonna cute this short and start writing. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

No Sleep for Fox Boy:

"I suppose we should get some sleep, ne?" Kurama interrupted.

Autumn shook her head, "But it's so early! We still have plenty of time that we could use to torment people! I mean...Talk about things!"

"I knew she was out to make us suffer!!" Yusuke yelled, pointing at Autumn.

Autumn began to laugh maniacally. Kurama shook his head and forced himself not to smile, "We should really get some sleep before tomorrow if we're..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hinote interrupted, "During my match with Hiei I was going to say 'Yuki's lover' not 'Yukina's brother!"

All of us turned to stare at Hinote and make him feel like an idiot for his random outburst. Autumn pointed, "You interrupted Kurama! You bastard monkey! And that was SO rand...YOU REVEALED HIEI'S SECRET!!! YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT HIEI IS YUKINA'S BROTHER!!"

"No...You did...I never actually said that Hiei was Yukina's brother. I just said 'Yukina's brother'" Hinote pointed out.

Hiei was fuming. Kuwabara was shocked, "HIEI IS YUKINA"S BROTHER?!?"

"Who's Yukina and why is it such a secret that Hiei is her brother?" Thorn asked, confused.

Hiei was unsheathing his katana. He growled at Autumn and Hinote, "I will kill both of you..."

"Now, now, Hiei, it isn't nice to kill your associates..." Autumn said while backing up towards the door.

Hinote was also backing up towards the door. Hiei used his lightning speed to move between them and the door. He was behind them as he spoke, "Neither of you are going anywhere but to Reikai once I free your souls from your bodies!"

Autumn and Hinote laughed nervously. They froze in place and refused to turn around. Hiei was moving towards them menacingly while holding his now unsheathed katana out to the side. The rest of us were watching in either surprise, amusement (::cough:: Flash ::cough::), or horror. Kurama stood up.

"Hiei, surely you can't be seriously planning to kill them! No harm will come from this, just calm down!" Kurama tried to reason with the enraged fire demon.

"Stay out of this Kurama..." Hiei growled.

I hopped over and stood in front of Autumn protectively. Autumn turned and stared down at me along with everyone else. After a moment of complete silence, everyone started laughing at me. Even Hiei laughed for a second before his frown returned. I made a loud unhappy noise. Once the laughter stopped Kuwabara looked at Hiei.

"Hey shorty, why do you have your katana drawn?" Kuwabara asked.

Thorn opened her mouth to tell him but Autumn and Hinote covered her mouth with their hands and yelled, "WE WERE PLAYING A GAME!!!"

"Yeah, we were playing a game where we tell lies and people pretend to get angry! Anything you heard recently was a lie!" Autumn explained.

For a moment Kuwabara looked like he didn't buy that story, then he nodded, "Oh, ok! Sounds like lots of fun!"

Everyone stared at him blankly. Hiei sheathed his katana again. Hinote sighed in relief, "We are so lucky that he's such an idiot..."

"Yeah..." Autumn nodded.

Hinote pointed at Autumn accusingly, "YOU! You almost got me killed!"

"Well, look at the bright side! We're still alive and at least there are no blood stains on Thorn's pretty white carpet!" Autumn chirped happily.

Flash hit Autumn over the head with the nearest book. Autumn fell to the floor clutching her head in pain, "OW!!! What the hell was that for?! I didn't even do anything!!"

"You were being too optimistic again." Flash said without emotion.

"But optimism is good for you!!" Autumn whined.

Flash glared, "Optimism makes me sick."

"Aw..." Autumn pouted and looked down at the carpet sadly.

Hinote blinked and looked at Flash while pointing at Autumn, "You made Autumn sad, shame on you, Flash."

"Oh she'll get over it. Kurama, deal with that." Flash pointed at Autumn.

Kurama blinked, "Why me?"

"Because you luffels her." Hinote shrugged.

"...Luffels?" Kurama blinked rapidly.

"Love, you moron." Flash responded.

Kurama's cheeks reddened slightly. Thorn seemed to be writing notes down in a little pocket notebook that appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey where'd Autumn go?" Hinote asked, looking around.

Yusuke pointed, "She's over there in the corner...reading a book..."

"Let me guess, it's a comic book, right?" Flash asked as she walked over to see what Autumn was reading.

"No, it's a book about the legends and things of Makai." Autumn mumbled absently as she read.

Hinote suddenly decided to speak, "Hey, I just noticed something..."

"Your fly is open?" Autumn arched an eyebrow while closing the book and putting it aside.

Hinote looked down, "WHAT?! IT IS?!"

"You idiot, I was kidding." Autumn rolled her eyes.

Hinote sighed, "Anyways, I just noticed that we're a lot like the Yu Yu Hakusho guys."

"How so?" asked Flash.

"Well there are four of us: Me, You, Autumn, and Margaret and there are the four guys: Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara." Hinote started as he sat down on the couch.

Autumn arched an eyebrow, "And...?"

"Well, in our group, Flash is Hiei because she's violent and sets stuff on fire. I'm Yusuke, Margaret's Kuwabara because she's an idiot, and Autumn, you're Kurama because you're smart and quiet unless you've had sugar...HEY! Let's give Kurama tons of sugar and see if he gets spastic and annoying!" Hinote announced.

"Yeah!" Yusuke agreed.

Kurama sweat dropped. Autumn decided to save Kurama, "Hinote, how are you Yusuke? I mean, sure you do cut classes, act perverted sometimes, and never use your brain but...you're not a punk and you don't fight people...in fact, you're a sissy."

"I AM NOT!!!" Hinote yelled.

"Hinote, there's a rather large spider on your head." Autumn stated.

Hinote squealed in fright and jumped off of the couch. He started jumping around while rubbing his head to get the nonexistent spider out of his hair. "SPIDER!!!!"

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Flash, Autumn and Thorn burst out laughing at Hinote. Kurama covered his mouth to hide his smile and Hiei smirked. Hinote finally realized that there was no spider and sat back down on the couch while glaring at Autumn.

"I don't think you guys are really all that similar..." Thorn pointed out, "Flash seems to laugh more than Hiei does and Autumn is a more happy-go-lucky, carefree and dancing in the rain type of person than Kurama."

"Dancing in the rain is so much fun!" Autumn announced and grinned.

Hinote nodded, "It so is."

"I see your point, Thorn. Kurama's too proper to have any fun." Flash nodded.

Autumn clapped her hands together, "Well, then, the next time we find ourselves in a rainstorm I'll have to drag Kurama out into the rain and make him dance with me!"

"If he can stand being around you that long." Hinote said.

Autumn glared at him, "Are you saying I'm not fun to be around?"

"Eh...of course not! You're extremely fun to be around! You're one of the most fun people to be around out of all the people there are to be around!" Hinote laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "It's just that...the whole fan girl thing might annoy him. You saw how Hiei snapped at Margaret."

"Ok, first of all, Kurama is not like Hiei. If a fan girl was annoying Kurama he'd make up an excuse about having to go somewhere and leave politely, being a complete gentleman like always. Then once he was out of sight he'd probably run to make sure she wouldn't be able to find him and then he would get a restraining order." Autumn pointed out.

"Oh come on, I bet Kurama loves getting attention from so many fan girls. I wish I had fan girls like that!" Yusuke whined.

Kurama shook his head, "No, trust me, you don't."

"See? Fan girls do annoy him. So be careful." Hinote said to Autumn.

Kurama looked at Autumn, "Well, she's just a mild fan girl. She doesn't follow me home every day or offer me presents and food as soon as I leave my house in the morning."

"If she knew where your house was she would." Hinote nodded.

"No I wouldn't..." Autumn shot Hinote a death glare.

Hinote held up his hand to block Autumn's glare from his view. "Stop the creepy glaring!"

"Then stop saying things to make me glare at you." Autumn replied.

Flash shook her head, "Here they go again arguing about stupid things. Just like that time they were arguing about what color Kurama's shirt is in the movie..."

"It was blue!" Autumn yelled.

"PURPLE!" Hinote yelled back.

"BLUE!"

"PURPLE"

"KURAMA'S SHIRT IS BLUE!"

"HIS SHIRT IS PURPLE!"

"BLUE!"

"PURPLE!"

"KURAMA! WHAT COLOR IS YOUR SHIRT?! BLUE OR PURPLE?" Autumn yelled at the redhead.

Kurama blinked rapidly then looked down at his shirt, "Um...my shirt is white..."

"Not that shirt, the one from the battle against Yakumo of the Netherworld. It's got a red phoenix on it and a golden yellow trim. You wore a white shirt under it, white pants, and g golden yellow belt." Autumn was explaining.

"Does she know every detail of it?" Yusuke asked.

"Pretty much." Flash nodded.

Kurama thought for a moment before answering, "It's purple."

"I told you!" Hinote pointed at Autumn. "I was right and you were wrong! HA-HA!"

Autumn stuck her tongue out at Hinote. Hinote opened his mouth to say something then shook his head, "No...Hiei's here...."

"Huh?" Flash blinked at Hinote.

"It's nothing." Hinote shook his head.

Flash and Autumn exchanged glances. They moved closer to Hinote, "Tell us!"

"No, no, it's nothing." Hinote insisted.

Flash and Autumn nodded at each other before starting to attack Hinote. They were tickling his sides and feet. He fell onto the floor struggling and laughing as the girls continued their attack.

"GET AWAY!! It's nothing!" Hinote laughed out.

"Tell us!" Autumn yelled at Hinote.

Flash continued trying to get Hinote to tell them while Autumn walked up to Hinote's boots and picked one up. "Hinote, I have Mr. Shoe and I'm holding him hostage until you tell us."

"Is it the right shoe?" Flash asked.

Autumn looked at it, "Yeah."

"I would've laughed if it wasn't." Flash said.

Autumn walked out of the room and yelled, "Hinote, Mr. Shoe's going in the garbage if you don't tell us!"

"WHAT?!" Hinote got up and ran to where Autumn was. "Where's my shoe?"

"In the garbage." Autumn replied.

"YOU THREW MY SHOE IN THE GARBAGE?!" Hinote yelled.

Yusuke blinked, "You guys have serious issues."

"I hate you right now." Hinote said as he walked back into the room holding his boot.

Autumn followed behind, "Tell us."

"Now you're never going to know." Hinote glared.

Autumn reached into her bag and took out a spray bottle. She left the room and came back with it filled with water. She started spraying the water at Hinote. Hinote started trying to block the water. Flash was off to the side laughing. Hinote got up and started trying to get the spray bottle from Autumn. He finally got it out of her hands and started spraying her with it. Autumn stood there letting him.

"You realize that doesn't bother me?" Autumn asked.

Hinote kept spraying the water at her. Autumn turned around, "Now get this side, it has to be even."

"Oi, you two are embarrassing me again." Flash pointed out.

Autumn got the spray bottle back and started spraying Hinote again. Hinote ran outside into Thorn's backyard. There were some lit lamps hanging from tree branches out there. Autumn started chasing Hinote around. She finally just opened the bottle and let the water fly out at Hinote. Hinote took the bottle and did the same to Autumn. The rest of us moved to stand in the backyard watching them.

Hinote grabbed Autumn's arm and started skipping in a circle. He then grabbed Flash's arm. Flash hissed and tried getting away. After a while she did and moved to stand away from them. Autumn pulled Hinote aside and whispered something to him. He nodded and the started moving towards Flash. They tried tickling her, poking her, and everything else.

"What are you two trying to do?" Kuwabara asked.

Autumn smiled, "Hey! Try picking her up!"

"No!" Flash yelled. She moved away from Hinote.

"You had to say it out loud, didn't you?" Hinote rolled his eyes. He started chasing Flash to pick her up.

Autumn followed, "Squeal damn it!"

"Squeal!" Flash yelled.

"That was the most pathetic squeal I've ever heard." Autumn pointed out.

Thorn looked around, "Alright everyone, back inside. It's dangerous in the forests around here during the night."

"Aw...fine..." Autumn pouted as she and the rest of us went back inside.

"I'll get something for all of us to drink." Thorn announced before going to the kitchen.

"So much for going to sleep..." Kurama sighed.

"Sleep is overrated." Hinote said.

I was sitting in Autumn's lap letting her pet me. She looked up at Kurama, "What do you guys know about the crystal?"

"All we know about it is that it has the power to control the seasons and that it could cause major damage to Ningenkai if we don't get it back." Kurama replied.

Flash leaned back on the couch where she was sitting with Terminator stretched out next to her. "How could a crystal be that powerful? Where did it come from and what created it?"

"I already said all that we know about it." Kurama pointed out.

Autumn was looking down at me with a thoughtful expression on her face. She seemed to be lost deep in her thoughts. Thorn came back into the room with water for everyone. She waved a hand in front of Autumn's face, "You alright?"

"Huh? I'm fine! Just a little tired I guess." Autumn smiled after having been snapped out of her thoughts.

"We should all get some rest before tomorrow. I have a feeling that we have a long day ahead of us." Kurama stated.

Thorn nodded, "Yes, Kurama's right, we should get some sleep. There are four guest bedrooms. Kurama, Hiei, Tundra, and Hinote can have the biggest one, which is the one on the right. Autumn and Freckles can have the one across the hall from that one and Flash and Terminator can have the one to the right of the boy's room. Last time I checked Margaret was sleeping in the one across from Flash's." She went over to a closet.

"What about me and Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

Thorn tossed a blanket at him. "You can sleep on the couch and Kuwabara can sleep on the floor." She tossed a blanket and pillow to Kuwabara.

"That's not fair! How come the girls get their own rooms! Can't they share one?" Kuwabara said annoyed.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at him. Flash shrugged, "That's life, knaves. Deal with it or I'll make you suffer."

Yusuke smirked, "We could always have Autumn and Kurama share a room, I'm sure they'd like that…"

Autumn kicked Yusuke in the knee, "Not funny!"

"Yusuke! I asked you to stop saying things like that!" Kurama yelled.

"You expect me to listen?" Yusuke asked.

Autumn looked over at Thorn, "Are you sure there's enough room in this room for Yusuke? He might be more comfortable outside."

"But, if he was outside he'd probably get eaten by something..." Thorn said.

"That's kinda the point." Flash pointed out.

"That's ok, I'm perfectly happy here on the couch." Yusuke said as he took his blanket over to the couch.

Hinote looked thoughtful, "But why can't the girls share a room?"

"Just shut up and go to your room." Flash commanded.

"But..." Hinote began.

Flash pointed at the hallway, "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

"Yes Mommy!" Hinote snickered as he ran out of the room in fear with Flash chasing him.

"WHEN I CATCH YOU, YOU ARE SO DEAD!!!!!" Flash screamed.

Autumn grinned, "I love my friends."

"I don't." Yusuke said grumpily.

Autumn shrugged, "Well, no one cares about you."

"Ha-ha, Very funny." Yusuke glared.

Thorn started ushering everyone to their rooms, "The sooner we go to sleep the sooner we wake up and the sooner I get to make breakfast!"

Everyone went to their assigned rooms and settled down to go to sleep, except for Hinote and Flash. Hinote was finally chased into a corner by Flash. Flash reached into her trench coat.

"I will smite you with my metal...BOOKMARK?!" Flash stared in disbelief at the bookmark in her hand.

Hinote started laughing, "Oh, yeah, real spooky."

"...AUTUMN!" Flash yelled.

"I DIDN'T DO IT, I SWEAR!" Autumn yelled back from her room.

I shook my head and hopped off to Autumn's room in order to get some sleep. Flash went to her room grumbling about foxes and revenge. Hinote sighed in relief and went to the room he was sharing with Hiei and Kurama.

---Later that night (Now in 3rd person POV):

Kurama and Hiei were in the dining room with Thorn. Each of them had a cup of tea that Thorn had made. Hiei was sitting on Kurama's right and Thorn was sitting across from Kurama. They were speaking quietly so as to not wake up Yusuke or Kuwabara. Kuwabara was fast asleep and snoring on the floor. Yusuke was sleeping on the couch with a pillow over his head to block out the snores. Everyone else was fast asleep in his or her room.

"So what exactly was that pendant that you let Autumn have?" Kurama asked.

Thorn took a sip of tea, "It's a little trinket I picked up somewhere called the Namida no Tenshi. It supposedly gives off a red glow if the wearer is in danger and is able to create a temporary shield around the wearer as protection. I've never had a use for it because of the fact that it glows and would give away my position during a heist."

"Ah, makes sense." Kurama nodded.

Thorn thought for a moment, "You know, I think I might know something about that crystal you're looking for."

"Like what?" Hiei asked.

Thorn got up and went into the other room. She picked up a book and came back with it. "Well, I do a lot of research about things that have to do with the Mist Mountains since Kuro Tenshi is my Hero."

"Kuro Tenshi?" Hiei arched an eyebrow.

"The Black Angel, Phantom Harmony. I call her Kuro Tenshi because it sounds prettier." Thorn explained.

Kurama chuckled, "You're a thief, yet your hero is someone that caught thieves?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds stupid, but you have no right to talk. After all, you fell in love with her." Thorn responded.

Kurama sighed and looked down into his tea cup. It was true; Youko had fallen in love with Harmony over the time they'd known each other. She had disappeared, though, before he had been able to tell her exactly how he felt or ask her to be his mate. He had been searching for her for a while before other things demanded his attention. Then he had been shot during a burglary and forced to retreat to Ningenkai. He still missed her.

Hiei saw the distant and sad expression on his friend's face and decided it would be best not to mention anything about Thorn's statement. He decided instead to change the subject, "What does that book say about the crystal?"

"It says that the crystal was kept in a shrine in the center of the Mist Mountains for centuries. Its true origins are unknown. Apparently, the Mist Mountain Kitsune protected the crystal, but nobody knows exactly why. That's really all it says. There's so much that nobody knows about the Mist Mountains. If I hadn't seen them myself, I would've thought the Mist Mountains were from a fictional story or something." Thorn put the book down on the table next to her tea cup.

"I wonder what happened that caused the crystal to be removed from the Mist Mountains..." Kurama thought aloud.

---Autumn's Dream Sequence! Why? Because I love dreams! Now shut up and read the dream! READ IT!

There was a girl that appeared to be about 18 sitting on a large stone next to a lake. She had black hair reaching down to just below her shoulders. On her head were two black fox ears and behind her was a fluffy black fox tail that had a light blue ribbon tied around it. Her right ear had a chip missing from it. She was wearing a long red Chinese style dress with gold dragon designs on it. It had no sleeves and a slit going up to just above her knee on each side. Next to her on the rock were sitting two black Chinese slippers. Her feet were hanging into the water of the lake. The girl had her stormy blue-grey eyes turned to look at the bright blue, cloudless sky.

The water of the lake was still and calm. The only disturbances were flower petals that fell into the water. In the center of the lake there was a small island with a small oriental style shrine. It was made of light brown wood. In front of the shrine was a silver statue of a phoenix rising out of water. The shrine was giving off a pale blue glow because of the crystal that was housed inside of it. Around the lake was a small patch of green grass that had some flower petals on it. Around the grass was a forest of trees blooming with flowers of different colors. There were white, pink, light blue, yellow, and red orange flowers blooming on the trees. The flower petals were carried in the wind, making the area look rather beautiful.

The fox girl's left ear perked up suddenly and the girl hopped up so that she was standing on the rock where she'd been sitting. She quickly slipped on her shoes as she surveyed the area for the source of the noise that she had heard. Her eyes narrowed when she saw a robed figure standing in front of her. The figure's robe was a dark brown in color and the person had the hood up. All that could be seen of the person's face was the arrogant smile. The figure's mouth moved as if she was chanting something quietly.

The fox girl grew tense as a ball of dark energy began forming in the robed person's hand. The person shot the energy at the fox, but she was able to easily dodge it. She landed about a foot to the side of the rock she had been standing on and turned to see where the energy had gone. The fox girl's eyes widened in fear as she saw the energy destroy the small shrine and send a shining feather shaped crystal flying into the air. The girl changed into her fox form. She was now a pure black fox with seven tails. She jumped across some small stepping stones and caught the light blue crystal before it hit the ground. She then jumped across some other stones and ran through the forest away from the now furious robed figure.

---End dream

Autumn sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and saw that the door was cracked open slightly and her rabbit was missing. She reached into her bag and took out a watch to see what time it was. It was almost midnight. She stretched and yawned before getting up and leaving the room to find the rabbit.

In the dining room, Flash had joined Kurama, Hiei, and Thorn. She was sitting across from Hiei. They were talking about what was going to happen in the morning. Flash had been sitting silently for a while before Hiei spoke up.

"You aren't a human, are you?" Hiei asked.

Flash nearly fell out of her chair in surprise, "WHAT?!"

"Humans don't have gold colored eyes. Plus, I can sense a demonic aura from you." Hiei explained.

Flash blinked stupidly at him, "Wow, I didn't expect anybody to figure it out this soon...Now, don't go telling anybody, ok? I want this to be just between the four of us. Well...six because Hinote and Autumn already know but yeah."

"They know?" Thorn asked.

Flash nodded, "Yeah, Autumn forced it out of me. She can be very persistent...and annoying..."

"So what kind of demon are you?" Thorn asked.

"She's a lion hanyou!" Autumn chirped as she walked into the dining room.

Flash stared blankly at her, "You're awake?! Usually you don't wake up unless someone mentions something about Kurama not wearing clothes."

"ACK! You aren't supposed to say that while he's here!" Autumn hissed.

Flash looked over at Kurama who was blinking rapidly. She looked back at Autumn, "Oops..."

"So, why are you awake?" Thorn asked Autumn.

Autumn sat down in the chair at the head of the table, which was between Kurama and Thorn, "I just woke up from a strange dream. Has anyone seen my rabbit?"

"Don't tell me you lost your rabbit. First you lose your shoes, then your house keys, and now you lost your rabbit." Flash rolled her eyes.

Autumn shook her head, "Hey, I found my shoes and my house keys. I didn't lose the rabbit."

"Is that him over there?" Hiei pointed at a small moving shape that was eating the rest of Yusuke's playing cards.

Autumn turned around in her chair to look. She grumbled something about rabbit ear muffs before standing up and walking over to the rabbit. She picked him up and carried him back into the dining room. She sat back down and held him in her lap. "I told you I didn't lose my rabbit."

"Yusuke's not going to be too happy about his cards." Kurama pointed out.

"We'll tell him Kuwabara ate them." Flash shrugged, "He's stupid enough to fall for that."

Freckles put his paws on the table so he could look at everyone. He started nibbling on Kurama's sleeve. Kurama smiled and pat the rabbit on the head only to discover that Freckles had no intention of letting him stop the petting.

"How long is he going to keep me petting him?" Kurama asked.

Autumn smirked, "Probably about an hour or two."

Kurama sighed, "Wonderful."

"What connection do you two and that boy have to the crystal we're looking for?" Hiei asked.

Autumn and Flash exchanged glances. Autumn shook her head a little bit, "We don't know."

"I think you're lying." Hiei narrowed his eyes at Autumn.

Autumn met his untrusting gaze with a glare, "Well, I'm not. We don't know why we're involved in this. Right, Flash?"

"Right." Flash nodded.

Hiei still looked suspicious of them. Kurama decided to interrupt, "We found out from Thorn that the crystal used to be kept in the Mist Mountains. I thought you two might like to know that."

Flash's eyes widened slightly as if she had just realized something. Autumn nodded in a way that made it seem that she either didn't care or had already known that. There was silence among the group as everyone got lost in their own thoughts. Kurama continued petting the rabbit's head.

"So, Flash, why are you living in Ningenkai?" Thorn asked to break the silence.

Flash shook her head, "I'd rather not say, if that's alright with you."

Thorn nodded in understanding. Silence fell over the group again. Autumn decided she didn't like the silence. She looked around to come up with something to say or do. She sighed.

"Too bad Hinote's sleeping...We could've gotten him to do something stupid to keep us all entertained. Like the time he walked into my gate even though it was swung open and away from the walkway..." Autumn recalled.

Flash smirked, "He's such an idiot."

"Hey! We could always put makeup and girly hair accessories on the bakas over there!" Autumn chirped happily as she pointed at Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Kurama shook his head, "That would be cruel and uncalled for. There is no need for actions such as those and it would only start a conflict between you four. They would hate you more than they already do."

Flash and Autumn looked down at the table in silence for a bit. Autumn let Freckles hop to the floor. After a moment of silence both girls stood up at the same time.

"I'll get the makeup." Flash stated.

"And I'll get the hair stuff." Autumn added.

Kurama sighed as the girls ran off to their rooms. Hiei smirked at the thought of what the girls had planned. Thorn walked off to see what she could do to help.

* * *

Dream: sorry for the long update time. Got a bit lazy. ;;

Freckles: A bit?

Dream: ::glares at the rabbit:: Anyway, I'll get to work on chapter 10 right away!


	10. Operation Spanky

Dream: Grr...These stupid author's notes are starting to annoy me, especially since I want to get this whole revising thing done as soon as I possibly can. So, from now on I won't put in a beginning author's note. I prolly won't put in an ending note either unless I've added a character and need to add a disclaimer. Well, enjoy the story.

* * *

Operation Spanky:

--Next morning...well technically the same morning but later...around 10...

Flash and Autumn were awake and in the kitchen helping Thorn with breakfast. Thorn was wearing a black Chinese style blouse with long sleeves that covered her hands. Her sleeves did serve a purpose, because on the insides of the sleeves were small pockets where she had tucked small throwing daggers that she could easily access without her enemies knowing they were there. She was also wearing a silver colored belt that hung diagonally across her hips. There was a small silver pocket type compartment attached to the belt which held lock picking tools and things of the sort. She was wearing long black pants. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail with a dark midnight blue ribbon. She had identified it as her "thieving outfit".

Flash was wearing a black T-shirt that said 'I need more money & power and less shit from people like you' on it. She was wearing black pants that had glow in the dark outlines on them. Her trench coat was still in her room and her boots were still by the door with everyone else's shoes. She had her hair down.

Autumn was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that had buttons towards the top and a small pocket on her left. She was wearing dark blue Capri pants and white socks that had pandas on them. She was wearing the glowing pendant around her neck. The golden chain was long so the pendant hung down a bit. Her shoulder length hair was down.

In the dining room, Kurama and Hiei were helping to set the table. Hiei was wearing his black pants and black tank top with four white belts around his waist. Kurama was wearing the outfit that Autumn and Hinote had been arguing about the night before. Yusuke and Kuwabara were still asleep in the other room. Hinote was awake and getting dressed. Margaret was still locked in her room brooding over what Hiei had said to her. Terminator was sleeping lazily on one of the bookcases in the room where the two boys were. Freckles was following Autumn around like a second shadow. He would run circles around her or dart between her legs as she walked. She was stepping over and around him like one who had had much practice walking with the small creature following.

Autumn brought a large plate of different fruits out to the dining room table. She was walking slowly so she wouldn't trip over the rabbit that had decided to run circles around her as she walked. She set the plate down. Kurama smiled at her and pointed at Freckles.

"You have a very funny looking shadow." He said to her.

Autumn looked down at Freckles. He looked up at her. She looked back at Kurama, "He only acts like this when he wants a treat. I call it his 'look how cute I am; Give me treats!' routine."

Kurama laughed slightly, "I see..."

"No, Freckles, you cannot have a treat. You're still in trouble for almost getting yourself killed yesterday." Autumn scolded the rabbit.

Freckles looked down and then back up at her with his big brown eyes. He put his paw on her foot. Autumn sighed and took a grape off the fruit platter. She looked around once before dropping it. "Aw, darn. I dropped a grape. I guess now the rabbit will have to eat it so it doesn't go to waste."

"MUAHAHA! No one can resist the power of cuteness!" Freckles said silently before picking up the grape and running off with it.

Kurama shook his head, "I can't believe how lenient you are with your rabbit. No wonder he ran away from you."

"What can I say? I'm a sucker when it comes to cute animals. Besides, I think that rabbit has mind controlling powers. One moment I'll be sitting down reading something, the next I'll be getting a carrot out of the fridge for him without realizing it." Autumn mused.

Flash grabbed Autumn's hand, "Stop flirting and come back to the kitchen. We still need your help."

"We weren't flirting!!" Autumn yelled out of embarrassment.

Hinote walked into the dining room and stopped the girls. He was wearing khaki pants and a black short sleeved shirt with a red skull on it. "What's going on?"

"We're getting breakfast set up." Autumn answered.

A yawn and stirring sound from the other room drew everyone's attention to Yusuke. He was sitting up and stretching. Kuwabara started stirring too. Yusuke was wearing hot pink eye shadow with blue eyeliner. He had deep red blush and pink lip gloss. Everything had sparkles and looked really preppy. He had a pink feathery boa around his neck and his hair was up in two preppy pig tails that were high on his head and held with sparkly pink hair bands. Kuwabara had deep red blush like Yusuke's and pink lip gloss with sparkles. He had baby blue eye shadow that was sparkly and pink eye liner. He was wearing a feathery blue boa with a large blue hat that had a feather in it. Neither boy noticed anything about their appearance.

Hinote's eyes widened, "Oh...my...god...!"

"Hinote, take a picture!" Autumn hissed.

Hinote nodded and pulled out his camera. He quickly snapped a few pictures of the boys before either one noticed. Hiei was fighting with himself not to smile or start laughing. Kurama was practically in tears from biting his lip so hard in order to keep from laughing. Thorn walked into the dining room and started laughing quietly. Autumn and Flash were smirking at their handy work.

Yusuke and Kuwabara got up and saw everyone staring at them. They blinked as Hinote snapped a few more pictures. They looked at each other and their eyes widened in shock. Both boys pointed at each other and started screaming. Hinote took more pictures while laughing hysterically. Thorn, Autumn, and Flash were in pain from laughing. Kurama finally gave up and started laughing as well. Hiei coughed and went to the room he had been sharing with Kurama and Hinote. Once he was sure nobody would hear or see him, he burst out laughing hysterically.

Hinote stopped taking pictures, "I only have one picture left on this roll of film..."

"What are you saving it for?" Autumn asked.

Hinote pointed at Yusuke and Kuwabara who were both done screaming and both glaring at Autumn and Flash. "This."

Yusuke and Kuwabara stalked over to the girls with murder in their dolled up eyes. Autumn and Flash laughed nervously before deciding to run for the back door. As they started running with Yusuke and Kuwabara in hot pursuit, Hinote took his last picture.

Hiei walked into the dining room and had to avoid Autumn and Flash. He turned to stare at them before getting knocked over by Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei got back up and growled in anger before unsheathing his katana and chasing after the bakas. Kurama sighed and decided he better save everyone from Hiei's wrath. He started chasing after the homicidal midget. Hinote carefully changed the film in his camera and ran after them. Thorn went back to preparing breakfast since she knew everyone would be starving once they got back inside.

After an hour of chasing and death threats being screamed, everyone was finally inside again. Yusuke and Kuwabara were trying to get the makeup off their faces. Flash and Autumn were sitting next to each other at the table. Kurama was across from Autumn and Hiei was across from Flash. Hinote was sitting next to Flash. Thorn was trying to get Margaret to come out of the room and eat something. The animals were occupying the living room. Tundra was stretched out next to the couch. Terminator and Freckles were sitting on the couch. Each of the animals had been given their own dish of food and were eating quietly.

Yusuke came into the dining room and sat across from Hinote. He was glaring at Autumn and Flash, "I will have my revenge, you two. Mark my words, I will have revenge!"

"Oh, I'm so scared." Flash rolled her eyes.

Autumn started using a fake frightened voice. She clasped her hands together and looked at the ceiling, "Oh, please don't let the scary cheerleader reject hurt me!"

"KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled.

Kurama looked at him, wondering why the boy was yelling at him, "Yes, Yusuke?"

"Make her stop tormenting me!" Yusuke yelled and pointed at Autumn.

Autumn smiled innocently and waved. Kurama arched an eyebrow, "I'm afraid I have no control over her actions. She is her own person after all."

"Yeah, but she's your girlfriend. Can't you do something?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama and Autumn blushed slightly. Kurama glared, "She's not my girlfriend, Yusuke."

"But it's so obvious that you like each other." Thorn stated as she walked into the room with Margaret.

Margaret sat next to Hinote. Kuwabara walked in and sat across from Margaret. Thorn sat at the head of the table between Kurama and Autumn. They both threw a roll of bread at her. Thorn laughed. Kuwabara and Yusuke started plotting against Autumn and Flash.

Hinote was smiling as he ate his breakfast, "I got some really great pictures today! I can't wait to get them developed!"

"You better destroy those pictures or I will do it for you." Yusuke threatened.

Hinote hugged his camera protectively. Autumn shook her head and said in a scolding voice, "You shouldn't take out your anger on poor Hinote. He was only doing what came natural to him. He had nothing to do with it."

"But if anyone sees those pictures it'll ruin my reputation!" Yusuke whined.

Flash shook her head, "It's alright Yusuke. There's nothing shameful about being a cheerleader wannabe...oh wait...yes there is...HA-HA!"

"I hate this mission. I can't wait for it to be over so I'll never have to see either of you again." Yusuke groaned and set about getting his breakfast.

Autumn thought, "You know, he's right. Once this mission's over, we'll probably never see them again...That means we have to make sure they'll always remember us!"

"I think you've already done that and more." Hinote said.

Flash reached out her hand to Yusuke, "I'll leave you alone and get Autumn to leave you alone, if you give me your wallet and all the money in it."

"Hell no!" Yusuke yelled.

Flash turned to Autumn, "I give you permission to bury all his stuff in mud."

"Yay!" Autumn yelled happily.

Yusuke growled and pulled out his wallet. He tossed it at Flash. Flash caught it and looked through the contents. She smiled and stuck it in her pocket. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you. You are now safe from Autumn for the rest of the morning."

"But...it's almost noon..." Kurama pointed out.

"Exactly." Flash grinned.

Yusuke glared at her and grumbled something about robbery. Autumn smiled evilly at Yusuke.

Hinote looked up at Kurama, "So, we're going to Reikai today?"

"Yes, as soon as everyone's ready." Kurama replied before continuing to eat breakfast.

Flash turned to Autumn and Hinote, "Are we still gonna put Operation Spanky into action?"

"Hell yeah!" Hinote yelled.

Autumn grinned evilly, "Of course."

"Operation Spanky?" Thorn arched an eyebrow.

"You'll see." Hinote, Flash, and Autumn responded at the same time.

Kurama and Thorn exchanged worried glances. Kurama looked at the three, "You aren't going to cause any trouble, are you?"

"Do we look like the kind of kids who would get into trouble?" Autumn asked as she, Flash, and Hinote smiled their most innocent smiles.

Kurama raised an eyebrow, "Why am I now more worried than I was before?"

"Because you know they're planning something?" Hiei suggested.

Kurama sighed and went back to his breakfast. Once everyone was done eating and all the dishes were cleaned up, the people who weren't dressed went to get dressed and the others went to gather up the stuff they brought with them. After all that was done the entire group was back in the sitting room preparing to leave. That's when Botan appeared.

"Hello everyone!" Botan said cheerily as she hopped off her oar.

Yusuke gave a small wave, "Hey Botan."

"Koenma wanted me to tell all of you to hurry to Reikai. Oh, and he also wanted me to take this girl back to the Ningenkai." Botan pointed at Margaret.

"Why?!" Margaret whined.

"Because you aren't involved in this mission and it's too dangerous for you." Botan replied. She grabbed Margaret's arm and disappeared.

Once they were sure that she was really gone, Autumn and Hinote threw their arms around each other and started laughing and dancing around. "WE'RE FREEEEEEE!!!"

Thorn blinked rapidly, "They really don't like her..."

"No shit Sherlock." Flash rolled her eyes.

Kurama coughed to get everyone's attention, "We should get going now."

"Yes ma'am!" Hinote said as he saluted.

Autumn hit Hinote over the head. Hinote rubbed his head, "I mean sir..."

---Later in the vile bowels of hell...I mean Koenma's office in Reikai...::looks around with shifty eyes::

Koenma was sitting at his desk looking the group over. Kurama was standing still and facing forward while waiting patiently for Koenma's explanation. Hiei had his arms crossed and was glaring at Koenma to hurry it up. Yusuke and Kuwabara were completely ignoring Koenma and talking about different fighting techniques. Autumn, Flash, and Hinote were huddled together speaking in whispers. Thorn was watching the three curiously. Tundra, Term, and Freckles were huddled with their humans in order to learn what was going on.

Koenma coughed into his hand to get everyone's attention. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked you to come here. We-"

A giggle from Autumn had caused Koenma to stop. Now he and the others were looking at the three huddled teens. Koenma coughed into his hand again. Hinote looked up at him and pointed while saying something to Flash and Autumn. The girls broke the huddle and stood up straight. Koenma glared at them a moment before continuing.

"As I was saying, I called all of you here to tell you that I found out more about the crystal you are looking for. The crystal was kept in a shrine in the middle of a lake. The lake is located in the crater of the tallest of the Mist Mountains." Koenma stated. He pulled a remote out of his desk and pressed a button.

A screen turned on behind the group and they all turned to look at it. There was an image of a ring of five mountains. Four of them were in a circle around the fifth, which was the tallest. They were all flat topped mountains and looked like they would be volcanoes.

"Those are the Mist Mountains?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes." Koenma answered, "Unfortunately, we only have images of them from this view because it's almost impossible to get into those mountains."

"How come?" Kuwabara asked.

Koenma shook his head, "There is strong magic protecting the mountains and only a kitsune that was born in the mountains or carries a pendant infused with the kitsune magic of the area can enter there."

"Something tells me there's more to these mountains than meets the eye." Yusuke stated.

Thorn crossed her arms, "I've read a lot of legends and stories about those mountains. The Mist Mountains were once active volcanoes. They caused a lot of death and destruction. Apparently, some of the local populations summoned a large bird of some sort to cool the magma under the mountains. The bird gave up its life for them. All that was left of the bird afterwards was a single crystallized feather. The locals, a group of Kitsune and Wolf demons, decided to build a shrine for the feather. They built the shrine on the tallest of the now dormant volcanoes.

"Over the next few years, the power of the crystal caused the volcanoes to bloom with life and fertile soil. A lake formed around the shrine. The kitsune were charged with the duty to protect the crystal and the wolf demons split up. A group of them went to live in a large mountain made of crystal where they studied nature and magic arts."

"Is all of that true?" Yusuke asked.

Thorn shrugged, "Nobody really has any definite information on the Mist Mountains or the Mist Mountain Kitsune. You'd have to ask one of the four survivors."

"Four survivors?" Kuwabara asked.

Koenma nodded, "Something happened to the Mist Mountain Kitsune about 719 years ago. All of them died except for four. Two of the survivors had been traveling at the time and the other two actually witnessed the event."

"So what happened?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama decided to speak, "Nobody knows. The two that witnessed it refuse to speak about it."

"So do these kitsune have names?" Hinote asked.

Koenma nodded and picked up his remote again. He pushed a button and an image of an elderly kitsune appeared on the screen. His short hair was gray with age and his ears were white. His eyes were squinted shut and there were wrinkles on his face. "This is one of the witnesses of the event. His name is Ninikinaki. He's the eldest of the survivors. When I asked him about what happened he said he had made a promise not to tell."

"Wow, he looks ancient." Yusuke stated.

Autumn hit him over the head and hissed, "Show some respect for your elders, moron! Besides, he's probably really old since demons don't age like humans do. It takes over a thousand years for most kitsune to start showing signs of aging like that!"

"And how do you know that?" Yusuke glared at her.

"Eh...research?" Autumn answered.

Koenma pushed another button of his remote and the image on the screen changed to a kitsune that looked around 20 years old. He had shoulder length black hair that was cut at an angle with long bangs that covered his eyes at certain points. His eyes were a pale blue in color. Atop his head were two crimson fox ears. Each ear had a black stripe on it. He was smiling a goofy smile.

"Who's that?" Kuwabara asked.

"That is Dariken. He was one of the traveling kitsune when the others were killed. One of his sisters and his mother died with the others. His cousin Viern was traveling with him at the time. This is Viern." Koenma pushed another button.

The image changed again. This time it was the picture of a kitsune with short white hair. He had three gold colored bangs in the center of his forehead. He had two light sky blue fox ears on the top of his head. For all his age, his face looked very much like that of a young boy. He seemed to be about the age of 16. He had large, innocent looking, light yellow eyes. He wasn't really smiling, just staring at the camera.

"Hey, he's kind of cute." Thorn observed, "But not as cute as that Dariken fox...why do kitsune always have to be so damn hot?"

Koenma decided to continue, "Which brings us to the final survivor of the Mist Mountain Kitsune..."

He pushed a button and an image of the kitsune from Autumn's dream appeared on the screen. In the picture, she wasn't facing the camera, but instead was facing to the left. It was night and she was sitting on a tree stump in a forest meadow. There were some fireflies shining around her. The kitsune's head was tilted upwards and her grayish blue eyes were focused on the stars above her. Her black ears were back and her black tail was wrapped around her. She was wearing the same outfit from Autumn's dream. She had a little orange bird in her lap and had her left hand resting on the bird's back. The bird's feathers were all fiery orange and her eyes were pale green. She had a yellow beak and yellow clawed feet. The bird's tail was long and ended in a point. She had some feathers sticking out behind her head.

"This is a picture of Phantom Harmony. She's Dariken's younger sister and is also Viern's cousin. She was the other kitsune that witnessed what happened on the Mist Mountains. She's also the one that made Ninikinaki promise not to talk about the event. After leaving the Mist Mountains, I convinced her to help me and she became a Reikai Tantei. She always succeeded on her missions...except the missions that involved Youko Kurama...she never was able to catch him...." Koenma looked thoughtful.

"Pfft, she could've caught him whenever she wanted. It would've been easy enough since she knew where our lair was. She visited us a lot." Thorn nodded.

Koenma blinked, "Are you saying that she let Youko Kurama get away with his crimes?!"

"Um...yes?" Thorn rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously.

Koenma stared at her blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing, "That's ridiculous!"

Autumn, Kurama, Flash, and Thorn rolled their eyes. Yusuke was staring at the picture. Kurama stopped and glared at Yusuke, "Stop staring at her picture."

"Why? It's not like you care or anything...unless...was she one of your many lovers too?!" Yusuke asked in bewilderment.

"NO!" Kurama yelled at Yusuke as his face turned bright red.

Thorn shrugged, "Youko fell in love with her."

"Aw...isn't that sweet?" Yusuke snickered.

Kurama glared at the ground and mumbled something about dragons having big mouths. Autumn and Flash joined Yusuke in snickering at Kurama. Koenma cleared his throat.

"You might be wondering how any of this relates to your mission. Well, Phantom was the one that entrusted me with guarding the crystal." Koenma nodded.

"I don't believe that." Flash crossed her arms.

Koenma frowned, "It's true."

--Flashback (Koenma's telling the others what happened)

Koenma was sitting at his desk using an 'Approved' stamp to stamp random papers that were sitting on his desk. He wasn't paying attention to what the papers actually said. He just wanted to be done with the work quickly so he could get back to singing karaoke. He was so absorbed in not doing his work properly that he didn't even hear or see the doors to his office open and close. He didn't notice that anyone was in the room until he saw a dark shadow fall across him from behind. He half turned to see, screamed, and jumped up onto the desk. It was then that he actually saw who it was.

"PHANTOM! Don't do that!" Koenma yelled at the fox girl standing in front of him.

Harmony sat down in Koenma's now vacant chair and rolled her eyes at him, "You're such an idiot. Those doors haven't been oiled in months. They make a lot of noise when someone opens them and yet, you still didn't hear me come in."

"I guess I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't notice. Now why are you here? Didn't I send you on some mission or something?" Koenma asked.

Harmony had stopped listening after the word 'work'. She had picked up a paper off of Koenma's desk and looked at it. She now looked skeptically at the Prince of Reikai, "You're going to let Genghis Khan be reborn as a girl in Ireland so he can fulfill his life-long dream of becoming a professional ballerina and possibly kill a few people along the way?"

"WHAT?! Let me see that!!" Koenma grabbed the paper away from Harmony and quickly tore it up.

Harmony rolled her eyes and pulled something out of her pocket. It was the crystal. She held it up so Koenma could see it. "If there were any other place to put this, I would put it there, but since this is the only place I can think of where it might be safe, I'm leaving this with you."

"Wow! You must really trust me now! Does this mean you'll go on a date with me?!" Koenma looked hopeful.

Harmony faked a smile, "Keep dreaming, Pacifier Breath."

"Oh, come on..."

"I can't stand you. Being in the same room as you for this long is starting to make me sick. That's why I'm going to get this over with as quickly as possible and leave to go visit my friends that happen to be wanted criminals that I'm supposed to be hunting down."

Koenma started laughing, "You're such a joker!"

Harmony rolled her eyes and stood up. She handed the crystal to Koenma and walked past him towards the door. She opened it and looked back at him with a serious expression, "If anything happens to that crystal I will personally put you through the most painful torture imaginable that will never end and will cause you to beg for death, but it won't come because I don't like to kill people. Have a nice day!"

Harmony smiled sweetly at Koenma before leaving and slamming the door behind her. Koenma was left standing on his desk and staring at the door with wide fearful eyes.

--End Flashback

Flash burst out laughing, "Now that's the Harmony I knew!"

"Koenma got rejected!" Yusuke pointed at Koenma and laughed.

Kuwabara was also laughing. Kurama was smirking and Thorn was grinning. Hinote was snickering and Autumn was smiling slyly. Hiei had an amused smile on his face. Koenma was glaring at everyone.

_'__That__'__s my girl!__' _Youko announced proudly to his human half.

Koenma looked flustered, "You have to find that crystal before Phantom finds out that I let it get stolen!"

"But Phantom's been missing for over a hundred years." Thorn pointed out.

Koenma nodded, "Yes, but she could still come back and follow through with her threat!"

"Aren't you being a bit paranoid?" Yusuke asked.

Koenma shook his head, "No! She's crazy! Like the time she tied up my feet and hung me upside down from the castle roof because she found out I had been spying on her..."

_'__Kill him.__' _Youko said to Shuichi.

_I can__'__t! He__'__s our boss! _Shuichi responded.

_'__He was spying on Harmony. For that he must die.__'___

_ Oh come on, it__'__s not like she__'__s even really your mate._

_ '__She would__'__ve said yes if I__'__d asked!__'___

_ Are you sure?_

_ '__Damn logically thinking ningen half...__' _Youko grumbled before being quiet.

"How was the crystal stolen?" Kurama asked.

Koenma started speaking to them in detail about what happened. As he spoke, Autumn crept over and crouched behind his chair. She lifted Freckles up. From the others' point of view it looked like rabbit ears were randomly sprouting from the top of Koenma's hat. Soon the ears disappeared and reappeared over the edge of the desk. The ears lifted to reveal Freckles' confused face. The rabbit was lifted a bit higher so that everyone could see his front feet and the hands holding him.

Kurama sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. The others were trying hard not to laugh as the rabbit was placed onto Koenma's desk. Freckles immediately started digging at the papers. He sent some flying and ripped holes in others. He then grabbed the corner of one paper and tore it into strips. He left the strips on the desk and started eating some papers out of a manila folder. Autumn quickly crept back to stand near Kurama.

"Did you really have to do that?" Kurama whispered to her.

Autumn nodded and whispered, "Yes."

Koenma noticed that Freckles was on his desk. His eyes widened when he saw the shredded and torn files. He glared at the rabbit. Freckles looked at him innocently while munching on the corner of a file labeled 'Top Secret'. Koenma grabbed one end of the paper and started trying to pull it away from the rabbit. The rabbit bit down and refused to let go of the file. There was a loud rip and Koenma fell backwards with half of the file. Freckles dropped his half of the file and hopped over to Autumn.

Koenma got up and glared at Autumn, "I...will...KILL...YOU!"

"But I didn't do anything." Autumn smiled innocently.

"Fine, then I'll kill the rabbit." Koenma glared at Freckles.

Autumn put herself in front of the rabbit and stated cheerily, "If you do that, I will personally make your life a living hell."

While Koenma was occupied with screaming death threats and curses at Autumn, Flash and Hinote had crept over to some of the stacks of unfinished paperwork that Koenma had in his office. Using the lighters that they both conveniently had brought on the trip, they set the papers on fire. Soon a good section of Koenma's office was in flames. Flash and Hinote walked back over to the others.

Koenma sniffed the air, "Is something burning?"

"Well...since those stacks of papers over there have large flames coming from them, I'd have to say...yes." Autumn pointed behind Koenma and nodded.

Koenma looked and his eyes widened, "FIRE!!! OGRES!!!"

A moment later, a few ogres came running into the room with buckets full of water. The flames were soon extinguished and a few windows were opened so that the office could air out. The files were completely ruined. Koenma turned slowly to glare at Autumn.

Autumn put her hands up palms out, "For once, I really didn't do it."

"Then it must have been you two!" Koenma pointed at Flash and Hinote.

Hinote gave his best hurt face, "I can't believe you would suspect me of doing such a horrible thing! Your lack of trust hurts me! If I had a shoulder angel, he'd be crying! Damn you! You're making my non-existent shoulder angel cry!"

Koenma was about to respond when the phone on his desk rang. He answered it angrily, "What is it?!"

"HOW COULD YOU LET THAT PAPERWORK CATCH FIRE?!" The voice of Emperor Enma rang out over the phone.

Koenma tried to explain but couldn't get a word out over his father's yelling. Once he finally did get off the phone he glared at Hinote, Flash, and Autumn, "Thanks to you three I'm probably going to get spanked."

"But I really didn't do it this time!" Autumn yelled.

Koenma grumbled and stormed out of the room. After a few moments of silence, Flash and Autumn gave each other a high five. Hinote hugged both of them. Flash then went over and sat in Koenma's chair. Autumn sat on the right side of Koenma's desk after pushing papers off and Hinote pushed papers off of the left side before sitting down.

"**_We_** are now in charge of this office." Flash smirked.

"Shit." Yusuke looked fearfully at the three.

Kurama frowned and crossed his arms. He glared at the three and spoke in an angry voice, "That was very immature and stupid. You three ought to be ashamed of yourselves for behaving like idiots."

"But they **_are_** idiots." Hiei pointed out.

Autumn looked down at the ground and then up at Kurama with sad, hurt eyes, "But we just wanted to have some fun..."

"There are other ways to have fun that don't involve destruction." Kurama said sternly.

Autumn nodded sadly, "You're right...we won't do it again...we'll start acting our age..."

"What?!" Hinote blinked at Autumn.

Autumn rubbed her eye and said sadly, "We did something really stupid here and now Kurama hates me!"

Thorn, Flash, and Hinote glared at Kurama. He looked at all of them while blinking rapidly, "Why are all of you looking at me like that?!"

"Because you're a jerk. Now apologize to the poor girl." Thorn pointed at Autumn.

Kurama sighed, "Autumn...I don't hate you...I'm sorry."

"Really?" Autumn looked at him tearfully.

Kurama nodded. Autumn grinned happily, ran over, and hugged Kurama, "I'm so happy to hear that!"

"Eh..." Kurama was blinking more rapidly than before. He started blushing slightly.

The others snickered at Kurama and Autumn. Hinote noticed a big red button sitting on Koenma's desk. Unable to resist the urge to do a typical comedy gag, he pushed the button. Immediately the ceiling opened up and coconuts fell out onto Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei quickly moved away. Kurama pulled Autumn away from the coconuts and Thorn moved the animals away. The coconuts continued to pour out of the ceiling on top of the bakas. Next, sand poured out. Then some water. A movie backdrop of a setting sun, a reclining beach chair, some sunglasses, a beach umbrella, flower necklaces, and an inflatable palm tree soon followed.

Everyone stared in surprise at the pile of beach stuff that was on top of Yusuke and Kuwabara. There was a scream and Botan fell out of the ceiling wearing a grass skirt and a coconut bra. She saw the others, screamed, and ran out of the office. (A.N: I would like to apologize if the previous scene has offended anybody or scarred them for life. I always write scary random things at 1 something in the morning.)

"Well...that was really weird..." Autumn said after a moment and pulled away from Kurama's protective embrace.

Flash coughed, "Well, let's just pretend that never happened, shall we?"

Everyone nodded agreement and started going about their business. Everyone that is, except for Kuwabara and Yusuke. They were still trapped under the pile of beach stuff. They were quickly running out of precious oxygen and were having trouble digging themselves out, but nobody cares about them anyways...except for maybe Kurama.

"Oh my god! Yusuke! Kuwabara!" Kurama yelled as he suddenly remembered that the boys were trapped. He quickly ran over to the pile and started digging to find them.

Once both boys had been dug out, Yusuke grinned at Kurama, "Thanks Kurama! You're such a great friend."

Flash suddenly started laughing insanely. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. She was holding an envelope full of money that she had taken from one of the drawers of Koenma's desk. She then stuck it in her pocket with Yusuke's and Hinote's wallets, "I now have even more money than before!"

"What are you going to do with all that money? Buy an army of highly trained, killer hamsters and use it to take over the world?" Yusuke started laughing. His laughter soon died when he saw the serious looks on the faces of Autumn, Flash, and Hinote.

Hinote turned to Flash, "He knows our plans!"

"He must be a spy! Kill him!" Autumn hissed.

Yusuke took a step back, "You three are insane!"

"Thank you!" Autumn, Hinote, and Flash said at the same time.

Kurama hid a chuckle behind his hand. Thorn grinned and Hiei smirked. Tundra was asleep, Terminator was using Kuwabara's leg as a scratching post, and Freckles was furiously grooming himself. Yusuke was staring at Flash, Autumn, and Hinote in horror and Kuwabara had a confused look on his face.

"Does anyone else feel a draft?" Kuwabara asked, looking around.

Everyone looked at his leg to see that Terminator had torn his pant leg to shreds. They blinked before starting to snicker at Kuwabara. Kurama opened his mouth to tell Kuwabara about what Terminator did. Autumn, who was still near Kurama, covered his mouth with her hand.

"You must be imagining things, Kuwabara." Autumn smiled at the idiot.

Kurama pulled Autumn's hand off of his mouth and held both her hands so she wouldn't be able to stop him, "Actually, Kuwabara..."

"You might be coming down with a cold!" Thorn interrupted as she put her hand over Kurama's mouth. He glared at her.

Kuwabara blinked at them, "You really think so?"

"Oh, yes, colds are very common during winter!" Thorn nodded.

"But...it's summer..." Autumn pointed out.

Thorn blinked, "Uh...that's what I meant!"

Kurama, taking advantage of the fact that Thorn was no longer covering his mouth, yelled quickly, "Kuwabara! The cat ripped...!"

Yusuke leaned over and covered Kurama's mouth, "The chair! The cat ripped the chair!"

Kurama glared menacingly at Yusuke. He was getting tired of his mouth being covered. All he was trying to do was warn Kuwabara that his pants were ripped. In his mind, Youko was laughing.

_Shut up! _Shuichi yelled at Youko.

_'__This is so...priceless!__' _Youko laughed.

_You aren__'__t helping!_

_ '__You__'__re point being...?__'___

_ Just be quiet._

_ '__You know, if you let go of that girls__'__ hands you__'__d be able to get Yusuke__'__s hands off your mouth.__' _Youko mentioned.

_...I__'__m still holding her hands?!_ Kurama quickly let go of Autumn's hands and turned bright red.

Autumn stared at him questioningly. Kuwabara was wondering why everyone was covering Kurama's mouth. Yusuke and Thorn were smiling innocently at Kuwabara. Flash and Hinote were looking through Koenma's desk drawers. Hiei was off to the side plotting evil plots.

Kuwabara pointed at Yusuke, Thorn, and Autumn, "Why are you three crowding around Kurama like that?"

"Because..." Yusuke looked at Thorn and Autumn for help.

Autumn threw her arms around Kurama, "Because he's our best friend in the whole world and we love him! ...in the friendliest way possible..."

"Except Autumn, she loves him as more than a friend." Thorn added.

Autumn reached over and hit Thorn. Thorn laughed and Yusuke smirked. Kurama took the opportunity to pull Yusuke's hands away.

"KUWABARA YOUR PANTS ARE...!!!" Kurama was interrupted by a whistle from Hinote and Tundra jumping on him.

Autumn, Thorn, and Yusuke looked down at Kurama. Kurama glared up at Tundra. Tundra smiled a dog's smile with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Kuwabara was even more confused than he usually is. Hiei had one eye open as he watched the others. Hinote walked over and pat Tundra on the head.

"Good boy, Tundra." Hinote told the happy dog.

Kurama shot Hinote a death glare, "Get him off of me."

"But he luffels you!" Hinote protested.

Autumn shrugged, "Why don't you just let him up? I mean Tundra's not covering Kurama's mouth so it's not going to stop him from saying that Kuwabara's pants are shredded..."

"AUTUMN!!!!!!!!" Hinote, Flash, Yusuke, and Thorn yelled at the same time.

Autumn put her hands up so her palms were facing her angry associates. She laughed nervously, "It slipped!"

"No, seriously guys, I really think there's a draft in here." Kuwabara said.

Everyone stared blankly at the idiot. Kurama pushed the dog off of him and stood up. He brushed dog fur off of his clothes and glared at Thorn, Yusuke, and Hinote. Hinote pointed at Autumn.

"Hey, she covered your mouth too!" Hinote yelled.

"Yes, but she said what I wanted to say." Kurama responded.

Flash suddenly interrupted, "Hey, let's get going. This office is starting to make me sick."

"Alright, well, I say we should go to the mountain range near the Mist Mountains." Thorn announced.

Yusuke pointed out the door, "Lead the way!"

Thorn led the group out of Koenma's office and through the hallways. Some of the ogres were staring at Kuwabara as they passed. Kuwabara was confused and wondering why he was being stared at.

"Guys, I still feel a draft." Kuwabara said to the others.

* * *

Credit where credit is due:

Thanks to Winter –iel –o burzum for designing Yusuke and Kuwabara's makeup and to EternalBlackNight for ripping a hole in his pants, thus creating the inspiration for the part with Kuwabara and the draft. I'm pretty sure that's it for thanks...

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. Flash and Terminator belong to Winter –iel –o burzum. Hinote and Tundra belong to EternalBlackNight. All other characters and the crystal belong to me unless otherwise noted.


	11. The Wonders of Marshmallows

The wonders of marshmallows:

Thorn had led the group back to her house to pick up some things she had forgotten. She was now running around the house gathering things into a backpack as the others stood and watched. She had packed rope, a book about mushrooms, some spoons, a pencil, and a small TV.

"Where the hell did you get a TV?" Yusuke asked as he pointed at it.

Thorn grinned, "Youko went on a rampage and stole basically everything from Koenma's office a while back."

Yusuke and the others turned to stare at Kurama. Kurama rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. Thorn nodded, "Yup, Youko blamed Koenma for Harmony's disappearance."

"You'd think he would've gotten caught..." Hinote pointed out.

Thorn shook her head, "Nope! Harmony had given us the floor plans of Koenma's castle so he knew every escape route and place to hide."

"So basically this Harmony person was a traitor?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama glared, "No, she just wasn't very happy with Koenma."

"So she told one of the most wanted criminals in Makai all the secrets of Koenma's castle? I still say she's a traitor." Yusuke shrugged.

Kurama shot him a death glare, "She wasn't a traitor..."

"Yusuke, you're making _Kurama_ mad. What the hell is wrong with you?" Autumn asked.

Yusuke glared, "Why don't you ask yourself that question. You're the one that has sanity issues."

"Watch it, detective. I have undeniable photographical proof that while you sleep you hug a white plush toy rabbit named 'Mr. Fuzzles' that you've had since you were 6! Don't try and deny it because it's undeniable proof!" Autumn pointed at Yusuke accusingly.

Yusuke's eyes widened, "HOW'D YOU FIND OUT ABOUT MR. FUZZLES?!"

"Um...I was making all of that up..." Autumn blinked.

Yusuke laughed nervously, "Oh...um...I don't know what you're talking about...I don't have a white plush toy rabbit..."

"Yusuke sleeps with a white rabbit toy!" Flash pointed at him and started laughing hysterically.

Yusuke glared and yelled, "Mr. Fuzzles is not white! He's pink! I mean...eh....damn..."

"Ha! And I thought Kuwabara's obsession with kittens was bad!" Autumn started laughing hysterically.

Yusuke glared at her. He then turned his glare to Flash, Hinote, Kuwabara and Thorn who were also laughing. Kurama was trying his best not to laugh and Hiei was hiding his amusement with the ease of someone that has spent hours in front of a mirror perfecting an emotionless face. Terminator was making a mental note of ways to torment the humans. Freckles was busy trying to eat the carpet. Tundra was watching in amusement.

Thorn smiled as she closed up her bag, "Well, I've got everything we could possibly need! Let's get going."

"Do you have marshmallows?" Kuwabara asked.

Thorn blinked, "Marshmallows?"

"How can you not know what marshmallows are?!" Autumn yelled.

Flash and Hinote groaned. Flash glared at Kuwabara, "You just **_had_** to mention marshmallows, didn't you?"

"Marshmallows are the most miraculous munchable food things ever invented in the history of munchies!" Autumn held up a picture of a marshmallow on a pedestal with a golden holy glow around it.

"These tiny multipurpose white things made of no natural ingredients and loaded with sugar and things to rot your teeth and ruin your health can be eaten in many ways. If you cook them over an open flame that gives off smoke which causes your lungs to turn black and sparks which can set flammable things such as clothes on fire they get all mushy inside and can be put on a graham cracker along with chocolate in order to make a Smore!" Autumn held up a picture of a stick figure on fire running around holding a stick with a marshmallow on it. She held up a picture of a marshmallow that had a plus sign followed by a picture of a graham cracker followed by another plus sign, a picture of chocolate, an equal sign, and finally a picture of a Smore.

"They can also be colored and put into a bowl of cereal to make it an unhealthy yet visually appealing part of this complete breakfast!" Autumn held up a picture of a bowl of cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes in it, a plate with toast, a glass of orange juice, and some eggs.

"To not know what a marshmallow is...that's an insult to the entire population of children that are being brainwashed into buying sugary cereals by the happy cartoon mascots on the TV commercials they play during Saturday morning cartoons! This is an insult to all those pathetic children out there whose lives absolutely revolve around the sweet, sugary taste of these pillow soft miracle food snacks!" Autumn continued.

"She's talking about herself, right?" Hinote asked Flash. Autumn's shoe was promptly thrown at Hinote's head.

"And in conclusion...! We can cook these marshmallows I brought with me from home!" Autumn grinned as she pulled a large bag of marshmallows out of her backpack and held them up for the others to see.

Yusuke pointed, "Why do you have a bag of marshmallows?"

"Idiot, if you have to ask why **_Autumn_** is carrying a bag of marshmallows around, then you're not paying attention." Flash said to the detective.

Kurama coughed to get everyone's attention, "This might be a good time to remind all of you that we are limited on time in which to complete this mission..."

"Ok, I want a show of hands. Is anyone else confused about what he just said?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara raised his hand. The others stared at them like they were idiots, which they most likely are. Thorn turned to the others, "I say we ignore them and leave."

"I agree with that plan." Flash announced.

Thorn led everyone outside of her house, "I think we should stop at the inn in town. By the time we get there it would be almost dark and besides, it's on the way."

"What about Kurama and Hiei? There are a lot of demons that want them dead. Koenma even said it was too dangerous for us to go into that town." Autumn pointed out in a serious tone.

Hinote moved away from her, "Gah! Autumn's being serious! The world is coming to an end!"

"Ha-ha, very funny." Autumn rolled her eyes.

Kurama smiled, "I assure you we can take care of ourselves."

"They could always wear disguises..." Flash suggested.

Autumn pictured Kurama wearing a pink dress with a white apron over it, high-heeled shoes, and a yellow ribbon in his curled hair. She also pictured Hiei wearing a Snow White type dress and blushing. She started laughing hysterically. The others stared at her.

"What's she thinking about?" Yusuke asked.

Hinote shook his head, "Knowing her...We don't want to know."

"Yeah, Hinote's probably right." Flash nodded.

"I wonder if anyone's noticed we're not around..." Autumn mused.

Hinote shrugged, "Well, my family probably hasn't noticed I'm not there."

"My family knows I'm gonna be gone for a while." Flash said.

The group turned to Autumn. Autumn thought for a moment, "Well, my mom's not going to be home for a while and she told me to find somebody's house to stay at or something...Alright, we're now officially on a camping trip to discover the wilderness."

"Like she's going to believe that." Hinote rolled his eyes.

"If you guys agree, then yes, she will. And it's not really a lie because technically we are going to wind up camping...and we've got **_marshmallows_**! W00T!!!" Autumn spun in a circle happily, "Just thinking about them makes me hyper!"

Flash hit her over the head with the metal pipe that she had taken back from her earlier, "No hyper for you."

"Ow...Baka neko..." Autumn grumbled as she rubbed her head.

Flash glared at Autumn, "What...did....you....just...call...me...?"

"Eh..." Autumn looked nervously at her friend.

Yusuke frowned, "Why'd she call you a baka neko?"

"I knew that's what you said!!" Flash yelled and glared at Autumn.

Autumn turned and ran away, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!! I HAVEN'T EATEN MY MARSHMALLOWS YET!!!!!!!!!!!"

"GET BACK HERE, ZASSHU (Mutt)!!!!!!!!!" Flash yelled as she chased after Autumn with the metal pipe.

The others were left standing where they were and blinking rapidly. Thorn shrugged, "Well, I guess this will get us to the tavern faster."

"We should make sure that Flash doesn't kill Autumn." Hinote pointed out, "After all, Autumn's the one with the marshmallows."

With that said, Hinote, Yusuke and Kuwabara took off after the girls. Tundra turned to Terminator and Freckles, "I'm confused."

"You know...I should be offended by what Autumn said, too..." Terminator pointed out.

Freckles shrugged, "Well, it's true. Cats are stupid."

"Take that back furball." Terminator glared at Freckles.

Freckles laughed nervously and started running away in the direction the others had run. Terminator took off after him while screaming curses and death threats. Tundra chased Terminator for the heck of it. That left Thorn, Hiei, and Kurama to stare in the direction the others had gone.

"I get the feeling that our lives are never going to be the same after this mission..." Kurama pointed out.

Thorn blinked, "Is that a good thing?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet...." Kurama sighed.

"Well, let's go make sure your girlfriend lives to eat those marshmallows she's so fond of." Thorn smiled and took off running after the others.

"She's not my girlfriend!!!" Kurama yelled as he started chasing Thorn.

Hiei shook his head and sighed, "How did I ever get mixed up with these bakas...?"

The vertically challenged fire demon took off running after Kurama. He quickly caught up with him.

--Right outside the town that will remain nameless since the authoress is too lazy to name it:

With everyone running it had taken no time at all to get to the town. Hinote, Yusuke, and Kuwabara had had to hold Flash back in order to save Autumn's life. Autumn was thanking her lucky socks that she was alive (yes, her lucky socks). Freckles had run to Autumn and hid behind her from the wrath of the cat from hell. Terminator was sitting near Flash and glaring at Freckles. Tundra was scratching his ear with his hind leg. Thorn, Kurama and Hiei soon caught up with them.

"Well, let's go to the tavern!" Thorn announced happily and started leading everyone into town.

Autumn looked around as they walked. A lot of the demons in the town had stopped what they were doing to sneer at them. Some demons were yelling threats at them. A couple of demons recognized Hiei and Kurama and were yelling things at the "traitors". Young demons started throwing food at them.

"Gee, you can just feel the love..." Autumn said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about? They hate us!" Kuwabara said to her,

"I was being sarcastic, moron." Autumn replied.

Thorn seemed completely oblivious to the fact that rotten foods were being thrown at her little group. She was walking along smiling cheerily and humming a little tune. Kurama had his hands over his head in order to try and protect his precious hair from the rotten food. Hiei was shooting death glares at everyone. Yusuke and Kuwabara were dodging food. Autumn was trying to keep Freckles away from some of the vegetables that were thrown. Flash hit some random demon over the head with her pipe and from then on the food was aimed away from her and Terminator. Hinote was dodging food with Tundra.

"We're here!" Thorn announced as she stopped at the tavern doors. Kuwabara and Yusuke quickly pushed her inside. The others followed to get away from the rotten food as quickly as possible.

The demons in the tavern stopped their conversations in order to stare at the group. There were mostly male demons with various scars. They all looked like ruffians and criminals. The demons gave them cold glares. A lot of them were holding bottles of sake so it was obvious that most were drunk. Sitting at a stool near the bar was a kitsune wearing a long, dark blue coat, black pants, and black shoes. He had his arms folded on the bar table and his forehead resting on his arms. His light blue tail and ears looked almost silver in the poor lighting given off by candles around the tavern.

"Great. Drunken criminals that already hate us because of who we are..." Flash narrowed her eyes as she looked around the tavern.

Autumn moved closer to Kurama and whispered, "I don't like it here..."

"Don't worry." Kurama whispered back and gave her a reassuring smile.

Thorn turned to the others and said lowly, "I'm going to go talk to the bartender and see if he knows anything that could help us. You guys stay here and don't get into any trouble."

"Alright." Kurama nodded.

The demons soon resumed their conversations though a lot were still eyeing the group warily. Yusuke and Kuwabara started arguing over who would protect the girls if the demons decided to attack. Kurama and Hiei were ignoring the arguing boys. Flash and Autumn were standing next to each other with their backs to the rest of the tavern as they watched the arguing boys. Hinote and the animals were watching Thorn.

"Now what are two pretty little creatures like you doing hanging around with a group of guys like that?" A large, ugly, green-skinned demon with one eye asked as he came up behind Autumn and Flash and put his arms around their shoulders, pulling them closer to him. The boys stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the girls.

"Get away from them!" Kurama commanded.

The demon ignored Kurama and smiled at Autumn and Flash, "How 'bout you ditch these traitors and come hang around with me?"

Autumn and Flash looked at each other and nodded. Autumn grabbed the wrist of the demon's arm that was around her and Flash grabbed the wrist of the arm he had around her. The girls, using some random laws of physics that I don't care to remember, managed to flip the demon over on his back on the floor. Flash summoned her sword from her ring and held the point to the demon's neck. Autumn took the demon's own sword and also put the point to his neck. He eyed the blades nervously. Conversation in the tavern had stopped again as everyone turned their attention to the girls.

"Tell us what we want to know and we might decide to be generous and spare your worthless life." Flash said evilly with a smirk.

The demon was now sweating profusely, "Wh...Wh...What do you want to know?"

"We want information about a feather shaped crystal." Autumn replied.

"I don't know anything about a crystal like that..." The demon answered hesitantly.

Autumn and Flash pressed the sword tips closer to the demon's neck. The demon started sweating more. He whimpered in protest, "Ok! Ok! I don't know anything about it but you might try asking the Merchant Genki...He knows a lot about crystals and jewels..."

"Should we let him go unharmed?" Flash asked Autumn.

Autumn looked thoughtful, "I don't know...he was hitting on us..."

"True. So shall we take away his dignity?"

Autumn smirked, "Yes, let's..."

"Wh...What are you going to do?" The demon asked fearfully.

Flash shook her head and let the demon up but held his arm, "You'll see..."

Autumn took a small pink bundle out of her bag and handed it to him, "Go in that storage room and change into this. Don't try and get away or we'll kill you."

The demon nodded and went into the storage closet she pointed at. A moment later he came out wearing a fluffy pink bunny costume. Laughter erupted from everyone in the tavern. Autumn and Flash grabbed the demon's arms and pushed him out into the street. The demons on the street started laughing as well.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice before trying to take advantage of someone!" Autumn yelled at him before throwing the sword outside and closing the doors. Flash summoned her sword back into a ring. Both girls smiled and gave each other a high-five.

Yusuke was staring at them in shock, "How did you two do that?"

"Do what?" Flash asked.

Yusuke pointed at her, "Well, first of all, how did your ring turn into a sword? And secondly, how did you two manage to flip that guy over?"

"That's for us to know and you to die trying to find out." Autumn smiled at Yusuke sweetly.

Thorn walked back over to the group shaking her head, "I thought I told you not to get into any trouble."

"He started it." Both girls responded.

Thorn shrugged, "Well, did you find anything out?"

"Yes, he said we should look for the Merchant Genki." Autumn responded.

"Then let's go!" Thorn said happily as she ushered everyone outside.

Yusuke looked around, "So where exactly does this Genki person live?"

"Uh..." Thorn looked at Kurama. He shrugged. She turned to Autumn and Flash. They shook their heads.

"I know where he lives." A voice said from behind them and to the left.

They turned around to see...nobody! They then tilted their heads downwards to see a fox demon with a brown leather collar around his neck. Attached to the collar was a brown leather leash that was tied to a post outside the tavern. He was wearing a long sleeved red shirt and black jeans. He had on black shoes. He had two crimson fox ears sticking out from his head. Each ear had a black stripe on it. He had a large red fox tail with a black stripe on it that was broken in one place. The two ends of the stripe curved up so they didn't meet. He had black shoulder length hair and pale blue eyes that were covered in some places by his bangs.

"Hey aren't you that fox that Koenma showed us?" Hinote asked.

"Yeah, you're Dariken." Autumn pointed at him.

Dariken tilted his head to the side, "You know of me?"

"We're on a mission from Koenma to track down the crystal feather that was stolen from his vault." Thorn chirped.

Dariken's eyes widened, "It was stolen?! Damn, he'd better hope my sister doesn't find out. She'd kill him..."

"So we've heard." Hiei said.

Dariken looked at Flash, "You seem familiar."

"You seem stupid." Flash replied.

Kurama decided to interrupt before they could start arguing, "You said you know where Merchant Genki lives?"

"I did? I do?" Dariken stared blankly at Kurama.

Flash and Autumn hit him over the head, "YOU IDIOT!!!"

"Hey! I remember now! Yeah, I know where Genki is. If you get this collar off of me, then I'll take you there." Dariken pointed at the collar.

Autumn reached over and unbuckled it. The collar fell to the ground. Dariken stared at it for a moment before jumping up and hugging Autumn tightly, "THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE YOU STRANGE GIRL WHO'S NAME I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!"

"ACK!!!" Autumn started struggling to get away.

Kurama coughed to get Dariken's attention and said moodily, "I believe you said you would lead us to the merchant."

"Aw....Kurama's jealous..." Yusuke teased.

Dariken let go of Autumn and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I've missed you, Harmony."

"You're lucky everyone's too busy teasing Kurama to have heard you." Autumn hissed.

Dariken stood straight and shrugged. Something then clicked in his mind, "Wait...Kurama? As in...Youko Kurama?"

"Yes...why?" Kurama blinked.

Dariken grabbed Kurama's shirt collar and lifted him up. He growled at him, "I'm going to kill you!"

"What did he do?" Yusuke asked.

Dariken glared at Kurama, "He was flirting with my sister!"

"Oh he did more than that! He kissed her and hugged her..."

Kurama interrupted Thorn, "Thorn! You're not helping!"

"Dariken! Let go of him!" Autumn yelled.

Dariken remained holding Kurama and growling at him, "No! He was flirting with my sister and for that he must die!"

"I SAID LET GO OF HIM!" Autumn yelled louder and glared at Dariken.

Dariken let out a yelp of fright, dropped Kurama on the ground, and hid behind Flash, "Ok! Ok! I let go of him! Don't kill meeee!"

"Good boy." Autumn nodded. She reached her hand down to help Kurama off the ground. He took it and stood up.

"Thank you, Autumn." Kurama said as he brushed himself off and straightened his clothes.

Autumn pointed at Dariken, "Dari, lead now."

"Yes oh great leader person that I fear more than anything else in the world!" Dariken said before quickly walking off the way they had come into the town.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at Autumn fearfully before hurrying after Dariken. Thorn pat Autumn on the head, "And here I thought you were a sweet girl."

"Every rose has its thorns." Autumn replied before picking Freckles up and walking after the others.

Kurama's eyes widened a bit but he quickly dismissed his thoughts. He and the others followed after Autumn. Flash, Autumn, Hinote, and their animals were walking behind Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei, Kurama and Thorn were walking behind them. After a while of walking it started to get dark.

"Can we stop walking now?" whined Kuwabara.

Thorn nodded and stopped walking, "Yeah, let's make camp."

"Camp means marshmallows! Yay for marshmallows!" Autumn yelled happily.

Flash pointed at Yusuke and Kuwabara, "Go get firewood."

"Why us?" Yusuke asked.

Flash held up her metal pipe, "Because if we were to run out of food you would be the first ones we eat and I wanna make sure that we get everything we can out of you." (A.N: hee hee...borrowed that line from Winter's fic, _A Walk In Each Other's Shoes.__)_

Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces paled. They looked at each other before scrambling away to find firewood. The rest of the group, except Hiei, laughed once they left. Hiei smirked. They were in a small clearing surrounded by trees.

Autumn pat Flash on the back, "Good Koneko."

Flash hissed and Autumn moved away, "I meant lioness!"

"Autumn, do try not to get Flash mad at you." Kurama said.

"Hey! I remember you now!" Dariken said as he pointed at Flash, "You're Harmony's friend, Lioness!"

Thorn, Kurama, and Hiei turned to stare at Flash with wide eyes. Yusuke and Kuwabara just happened to come back at that time. Yusuke scratched his head, "Flash is a lioness?"

"Not just any lioness, Flash is **_the_** Lioness." Autumn responded.

Flash put a hand over Autumn's mouth to keep her from saying anything else, "Ha-ha! She's just kidding!"

"No she's..." Hinote stopped when he saw the death glare Flash shot him, "I mean...yes she is!"

Yusuke looked at the three of them suspiciously, "You're hiding something from me."

"Yup." Autumn replied, having finally gotten free from Flash.

Yusuke crossed his arms, "What is it?"

"Nothing..." Autumn smiled innocently and hid her hand behind her back.

Yusuke glared, "I know it's something."

"Oh fine, you win." Autumn revealed her hidden hand and hit Yusuke over the head with a tree branch.

Yusuke held his head, "Itai! Bitch! What was that for?!"

"You wanted to know what I was hiding. I was hiding a tree branch." Autumn smirked.

Yusuke looked at his hand to make sure his head wasn't bleeding, "You didn't have to hit me with it!"

"...Yeah, you're right...but it was fun." Autumn laughed evilly.

Kuwabara dropped the sticks he was carrying in the center of the clearing. Kurama arranged some of the sticks and Hiei set them on fire. The group gathered around the fire. Autumn started putting the marshmallows on sticks and stuck the sticks in the ground so the marshmallows weren't too close to the fire but still close enough to cook. Hinote picked his up and stuck it in the fire so the marshmallow caught fire. Once it was nice and toasty he blew out the flame.

"You wouldn't happen to have any graham crackers and chocolate in there, would you?" Hinote asked.

Autumn picked up her bag, "I'll check."

"Shouldn't you know what's in your bag?" Thorn asked.

Autumn shook her head, "I went around the kitchen putting random snack items in the bag."

"Oh." Thorn nodded in understanding.

Kuwabara looked confused, "Why?"

"You never know what's going to happen so you might as well always be prepared." Autumn nodded.

Autumn started looking through her bag. She took out a small purple bag with a picture of a rabbit on it and handed it to Hinote, "Hold this."

"OK..." Hinote looked at the bag and stuck the end of the marshmallow stick back in the ground.

Freckles stared at the bag. His rabbit senses told him that that was the purple bag containing his rabbit treats. He ran and jumped into Hinote's lap. The treat crazed rabbit started pawing at Hinote and biting at his fingers. Hinote let out a squeal of surprise and fell backwards. The rabbit moved to stand on his chest and was biting at the bag.

"Autumn, help! Your rabbit's gone crazy!" Hinote yelled.

Autumn didn't look up, "Oh, it's just because that bag has his treats in it. He wants one, but you can't give him one because he's punished and only I am allowed to be a pushover and sneak him treats."

"And that's why your rabbit never learns his lesson, because you never actually go through with his punishments." Flash pointed out.

Autumn smiled innocently, "But he's so cute!"

"_Iiii_diot..." Flash said between clenched teeth.

Autumn nodded happily, she then frowned, "Hey! I am not!"

"Hello?! Being attacked by a rabbit, here!" Hinote pointed out.

"So?" Flash and Autumn asked.

"Don't you care about my safety?!" Hinote yelled.

"No." Flash shook her head and went back to staring at the fire.

Hinote glared at her. Autumn was still looking through her bag. She suddenly held something up, "Ah ha!"

"You found graham crackers and chocolate?" Hinote asked hopefully.

"Nope! I found one of my pencil sharpeners! I was wondering where I put that..." Autumn dropped the pencil sharpener back into the bag.

Flash started poking the fire, "Fiiiiiiiiiire...."

"Flash, don't do that! You'll get hurt!" Kurama yelled.

Flash looked up at him and hissed. Autumn held Kurama back, "No! The number one rule in the Book of Flash is that you **_never_**, under any circumstances, come between Flash and fire."

"That's right, pansy. So stop interrupting my happy moment." Flash nodded.

Autumn hissed at Flash, "He's not a pansy!"

"And the number one rule in the Book of Autumn is never insult Kurama." Hinote said while still being attacked by the rabbit.

"Why shouldn't we insult him? He looks like a girl and carries flowers around in his hair. How can you not insult a girl like that?" Yusuke asked.

Autumn picked up a stick from the fire and used it to set Yusuke's shirt on fire. Yusuke screamed and started beating at the flames on his shirt. Flash started laughing insanely as she watched Yusuke's shirt burning. Autumn put the twig back in the fire. Yusuke dropped to the ground and started rolling around. Once the fire was out he took off his ruined green jacket to reveal an unharmed white tank top. He sat down glaring at Autumn. Autumn glared back.

"Kurama, you have to put a leash on your girlfriend. She's dangerous." Yusuke pointed at Autumn.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Kurama yelled, flustered.

Autumn looked back in her bag, "Well, I guess I don't have graham crackers or chocolate..."

"You mean I've been getting attacked by a rabbit all this time for nothing?!" Hinote asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Autumn nodded.

Hinote threw the bag of treats at Autumn. She caught it. The rabbit abandoned Hinote and ran over to Autumn. She opened the bag and gave him a treat. Hinote pointed at her.

"I thought he was punished!" He pointed out.

Autumn shrugged, "Yeah, but he's too cute to deny a treat."

"So you made me suffer all that time and then you just give him a treat anyways? I could've saved myself a lot of pain!" Hinote seemed very angry.

Autumn pat the rabbit, "I'm the only one that can spoil him rotten."

Yusuke was looking at Flash as if staring for a long time would answer his questions about her. Flash noticed him staring and arched an eyebrow.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"Why did that fox guy call you Lioness before?" Yusuke asked.

Flash covered Autumn's mouth before she could say anything, "No reason."

"Flash is a demon." Hinote nodded.

Flash glared at him. Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at Flash with wide eyes. Yusuke pointed at her, "I knew someone that evil couldn't possibly be human!"

Autumn decided to pitch in, "She's half human, half lion demon."

"Is it true what Dariken said? Are you really Lioness?" Kurama asked.

"Yup!" Autumn chirped as an answer.

Before Autumn could go into a speech revealing Flash's entire life story, Flash handed Autumn a stick with a now lightly toasted marshmallow on it. Autumn squealed, "Marshmallow!"

"Who's Lioness?" Kuwabara asked as he picked up his marshmallow kabob and started biting at it.

Everyone automatically turned to Autumn since she was usually the one to blurt out lots of secretive information that people aren't supposed to know. Autumn was licking marshmallow off of her fingers happily. She froze with her tongue out and looked up to see everyone staring at her. She then sat up straight and looked around.

"What...? Oh! Is this the part where I blurt out everything I know about Lioness for the purpose of making the story easier to understand?" Autumn asked as she looked around.

(Director: ::sighs:: My mother wanted me to become an apple farmer but noooo, I had to run off to be a director! Stupid! Stupid! ::bangs forehead with hand repeatedly::)

"Alright, well, Lioness is technically a hanyou. She's half human and half Lightning Lion demon. Lioness is just a nickname she was given, her real name is Flash but nobody's supposed to know that so if I mysteriously disappear sometime during the night I leave everything to my rabbit. Anyway, Lioness is of the Sky Lion Tribe." Autumn started.

"Sky Lion Tribe?" Yusuke arched an eyebrow as he was eating his marshmallow.

"Yeah, they're one of the most powerful Sky Kingdoms of Makai. Lioness' parents were the King and Queen of the Kingdom, but she disowned herself from the royalty because she didn't want to rule. She became the captain of the Kingdom's army instead." Autumn continued.

"That's stupid. Who in their right mind would actually not want to rule?" Kuwabara crossed his arms.

Thorn glared over at Kuwabara while holding her marshmallow kabob, "Shh! I want to hear this!"

"Anyway, Lioness became quite famous in Makai for many reasons. There are stories about her that are told to young demons even now. Oh yeah, another thing you might be interested in knowing is that Lioness and Phantom Harmony were close friends." Autumn nodded as she finished her tale.

"So that must be Flash's connection to the crystal." Hiei stated.

"Right, so all we need to do is figure out how you two are connected to it." Yusuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Autumn and Hinote.

Autumn grinned innocently and Hinote reached over to steal Kurama's marshmallow kabob which was currently not being watched. He took the kabob out of Kurama's hand. Autumn then snatched it from Hinote. She held it over her head as Hinote tried to get it back from her. Kurama looked at his empty hand and then at the two arguing teens next to him. He took the kabob from Autumn's hand and ate the marshmallow. The two teens turned to stare at him.

"Never steal from a thief." Kurama said to them once he had swallowed.

Autumn shrugged and turned to Dariken, "Well, you've been awfully quiet, Dari..."

She stopped talking and rolled her eyes when she noticed that the kitsune was curled up on the ground asleep. His ears were twitching slightly as he continued to listen for danger in his sleep. Autumn looked to see if he had left his marshmallow but, sadly, he had eaten it. She picked up the sticky twig and stuck it in Dariken's tail out of boredom.

"Now was that really necessary? It'll take him forever to get it out and it'll most likely take a large clump of fur with it." Kurama pointed out.

"Yeah, and?" Autumn asked.

Kurama sighed and prepared to go into a speech about the proper way to treat your companions when Flash hit him over the head with her pipe, "No speeches. I don't want to go to sleep yet, pansy."

Kurama and Autumn glared at Flash. Autumn hissed, "He's not a pansy."

"Guys, I still feel a draft." Kuwabara said randomly.

Everyone stared at him. They then looked down at his pant leg. It was still shredded since the idiot hadn't noticed. Everyone sighed and went back about his or her own business. After a little while, Yusuke and Kuwabara fell asleep along with the animals. That left Kurama, Hiei, Thorn, Autumn, Flash, and Hinote sitting around the fire.

"I'll keep watch tonight. The rest of you get some sleep." Hiei said to the others.

"Thank you, nomi (flea)! I mean Hiei!" Autumn laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Hiei and Flash glared at her.

Soon everyone except for Hiei was fast asleep.

---Guess what? Yup! Another dream sequence! This time it's Kurama's dream...

It was a bright spring day in Makai about 200 years ago. The blue sky was completely cloudless above. The forest was peaceful and calm. There were happy demon animals everywhere going about their business and providing for their families. Everything seemed so perky and full of life.

The peace of the forest was interrupted by the beating of wings and some frightened chirps as a small explosion was heard. There was a rustle and the sound of panting as a figure emerged from the bushes and started running on the main dirt road of the forest. He was a kitsune with long silver hair, two silver fox ears, and a silver fox tail. He was wearing loose-fitting white clothing and cream colored Chinese slipper shoes. He had bright amber eyes.

Currently he had his hand on a pouch full of jewels that he had attached to his belt. He was running from a group of bounty hunters that had chased him from the demon lord's mansion where he had stolen the jewels. There were four bounty hunters. They were covered in cloaks so he couldn't see much about them. All he knew was that the one in the front, presumably the leader, was able to form his energy in such a way that it exploded once it hit something.

Youko cursed silently. Kuronue had warned him that it was too dangerous to try and steal from that demon lord but, of course, he hadn't listened. It wasn't that he was trying to prove that he could beat the security at the mansion, ok maybe that was part of it, but it was mostly because the demon lord had recently purchased something that had been lost by the king of thieves on a heist. It was a silver chain with a ruby pendant in the shape of a rose. His mother had given it to him when he was young and told him to keep it always. She had told him that it had led her to meet his father and that someday it would lead him to his soul mate. Even though he had never believed her, the necklace was still very important to Youko since it was the only keepsake he had of his mother. Of course, once inside the mansion he hadn't been able to resist the urge to take a few extra gems along with him.

The leader of the bounty hunters threw another energy bomb. This one hit just to the left of Youko, injuring his left arm, leg, and creating a few scratches here and there. The thief's clothes were now stained with blood. He held his arm as he used some of his remaining energy to sprint ahead of the hunters as the smoke from the explosion was clearing. He left the main road into the bushes to his right and slowed to a limp once he reached a smaller path that was hidden from view of the main road. That sprint had made his leg hurt more and he had already lost a lot of blood. He started to pant as he continued limping down the road.

After a while of limping he stumbled and fell to the ground. He lay there for a moment before painfully lifting himself to his feet and continuing on. The lair was so far away that he doubted if he would survive. He had lost too much blood already and was having trouble focusing. Plus it wouldn't be long before the bounty hunters found him.

_If my mate__'__s supposed to be death then this necklace sure did a good job of leading me to her._ Youko laughed coldly.

His eyes widened and his ears perked up when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He immediately spun around to fight whoever it was. Sure he was weak but he wouldn't go down without a fight. At first he didn't see anyone. He was confused until he looked down a bit and saw a female kitsune. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked with as strong a voice as he could muster.

The kitsune in front of him merely smiled. He studied her for a bit. She wasn't exactly short but she wasn't anywhere close to his height. There were two jet black fox ears on her head. The ear on his left had a chip missing from it. She had shoulder length black hair with black bangs that stopped just above her grey blue eyes. He stared into her eyes for a moment before allowing his gaze to wander to the rest of her. She had a fluffy black fox tail behind her. She was wearing loose black pants, a long sleeved black shirt, and black Chinese slipper shoes. There was a light blue ribbon tied around her tail. His eyes moved back to her face. She was looking down and had a faint blush tinting her cheeks since he hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he was studying her. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a self conscious way. He had to fight a chuckle, she looked cute like that.

"Who are you?" His question was softer this time since he didn't sense that she was a threat to him.

The kitsune looked back up at him and smiled before walking past him and stopping a few steps ahead. He turned around to look at her. She didn't turn around as she spoke for the first time, "My house is very close to here. You can hide there until those bounty hunters decide to leave you be. I can heal your wounds once we get there."

"Why?" He asked.

She turned to look at him, confusion evident in her stormy blue eyes, "Why what?"

"Why are you inviting me into your house? Are you stupid? This is Makai! You can't just go around inviting strangers into your house and expect them not to hurt you or steal from you!" He practically yelled.

The kitsune's eyes lit up with amusement and she smiled sweetly at him, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, though I do appreciate your concern. However, I do believe that the one you should be worried about right now is yourself. Come along, Sparky."

Youko glared at the kitsune's back as she turned around and started walking, "Sparky?! My name is **_not_** Sparky!"

"Then what is your name?" She asked as she walked slowly so that he could keep up.

He hurried to walk next to her, "I can't tell you, but I can tell you that it's not Sparky!"

The kitsune next to him laughed softly. He glared, "It's not funny!"

"I think it is." She smirked and looked up at him with her eyes glowing with mischief.

He snorted and looked away. This only caused more soft laughter to come from her. He smiled inwardly; he liked the sound of her laughter. After they had walked slowly for a while, they reached a bridge over a calmly flowing river. Across the river and to the left Youko could see part of a house. The rest was blocked from sight by trees. The female kitsune led him across the bridge and to the house. From up close it looked like a large oriental style home except with a western (A.N: meaning US and Europe) style door and the house wasn't made with paper. There were beautiful gardens full of flowers in front of the house. It looked well kept. She went inside and he followed her. They both took off their shoes at the door.

The inside of the house looked like a mix of different cultures. There was a hallway leading straight from the door to a room that appeared to be the kitchen and then turned to the right. There was a living room area right to the left of the door. Once he entered the room he saw large windows on his left. In front of the windows was a large, comfy looking couch. In front of that was a coffee table and then on his right were some comfy looking chairs. The chairs and couch were dark blue. Across from where he was standing was a wall lined with bookcases. Some of the shelves had gaps between the books. In the gaps were different valuable looking statues. There were some paintings on other walls. The wall on the right didn't connect to the wall across from him. He could see that the gap led into the dining room. There was a shuttered window in the right wall.

Youko sighed as he flopped down onto the couch in front of the window. He leaned his head back onto the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He was very thankful for the rest. His eyes then shot open and he looked around once he realized that the other kitsune wasn't in the room with him. He heard soft footsteps coming down the hall and turned to look at the entrance of the living room.

The kitsune walked into the room carrying a pretty looking box. It was red with jewels set into it and the design of a large thunderbird on the top. She set it down on the table and gave him a look that clearly stated 'touch it and you're dead'. She then walked out of the room again and came back with two bowls that had water in them. The larger bowl had two rags hanging out of it. She set the bowls next to the jeweled box and then sat down in the chair that was across from him and in front of the items she had brought.

"Why did you help me?" Youko asked as he watched her open the jeweled box and take out a golden colored crystal that was glowing.

The girl's eyes lit up with amusement as she looked at him, "I wasn't aware that I needed a reason in order to help someone."

"Do you even know who I am?" Youko was starting to get frustrated with the lack of answers.

The girl shook her head, "No."

"You wouldn't have helped me if you knew who I am."

"And you wouldn't have trusted me if you knew who **_I_** am."

Youko sighed, "Aren't you even going to ask why those bounty hunters were after me?"

"Should I?" The kitsune leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands clasped together under her chin. She smirked, obviously enjoying not giving him straight answers.

Youko growled in frustration, "You aren't going to tell me who you are?"

"It's fascinating really, how you can be so focused on trying to find out who I am when you're slowly bleeding to death. You're either extremely cautious or extremely stupid." The kitsune's smirk widened.

Youko's eyes narrowed and his left ear started twitching in annoyance, "Fine! If you won't tell me who you are, I'll tell you who I am! I'm Youko Kurama, the legendary bandit!"

The kitsune sat quietly regarding him with unreadable eyes. He suddenly felt the urge to kick himself for saying that. He could've at least waited until she had healed him. Now he was going to end up outside with no place to go and no one to help him. The kitsune suddenly started laughed. Youko's eyes widened as he looked at her in confusion. She stopped laughing but still had an amused smile on her face.

"You have no idea how ironic this is." She told him.

Youko arched an eyebrow, "Perhaps if you told me who you are I would."

"Oh, silly me! I've been sitting here trying to irritate you in order to amuse myself and this whole time you've been bleeding all over!" The kitsune turned her attention to the bowls and the crystal in front of her. She crushed the crystal easily between her hands and let the powder fall into the two bowls, making sure there was more in the smaller bowl.

"What are you doing?" Youko asked, letting his curiosity overpower his annoyance.

The kitsune soaked the rags in the water of the large bowl. She took them out and handed them to Youko, "Wrap one of these around the wound on your arm and the other around the wound on your leg."

Youko nodded and did as he was told. He looked back at the kitsune. She was gone again and so was the jeweled box. Youko frowned, wondering how she was able to disappear like that without him realizing. He decided that it must be because of his injuries. She came back into the room holding a small jar full of powdered herbs and a spoon. She put a spoonful of the herbs into the smaller bowl and stirred it. She then put the jar and spoon aside and held the bowl out to Youko.

"Drink this." She told him.

He took the bowl and stared at the water. It was glowing. He sniffed it, "Will it kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now." She smiled at him.

Youko drank the water and found it was surprisingly sweet. He looked back at the kitsune in front of him, "So...who are you?"

"You're not going to shut up with that question, are you?" The kitsune rolled her eyes.

"Not until you answer it." Youko responded.

The kitsune held her hands up palm out and sighed, "Fine. I give up. My name is Phantom Harmony but you're probably more used to calling me The Black Angel."

Youko's eyes grew wide in shock and fear. He tensed and sat straight, ready to bolt, "Are you going to turn me in?"

"Now why would I be so rude to my houseguest?" Harmony asked.

"But...you're job...is to catch criminals..." Youko started.

Harmony smirked, "You see now, there are loopholes in what you just said. Number 1, I technically can't do anything unless I see a crime occurring or if Koenma gives me a mission. Number 2, who's to say that you're a criminal? It seems more like you're a victim from where I'm sitting."

Youko was still tense. Despite her words, he still wasn't sure if he could trust her. Harmony sighed and stood up, "I knew you wouldn't trust me..."

Youko watched as she gathered the bowls and walked out of the room. He sat on the couch deep in thought. She seemed to mean him no harm but the fact remained that they were technically enemies. Even if they weren't, he had learned over the years to be cautious about trusting people. His options were to run from the house or to stay and risk getting sent to prison.

He sat still on the couch contemplating his choices. He felt an itch on his left arm and went to scratch it. The itch was in the place where his wound was. He took the cloth off from his arm and was surprised to see not even a mark where the wound had been. He discovered the same was true for the wound on his leg. He was also feeling some of his strength returning to him. He sighed then stood up. He would risk prison.

He walked out of the living room and to the left into the kitchen. It was a pretty nice sized kitchen. There were counters on the right wall and the wall across from him. On the left there was an opening into the dining room. Near there was a door that led to the backyard. There was a small window on the wall across from him above the counters. There was a small table in the near left corner along with a few chairs. Above the counters on the right were light colored wooden cupboards. He saw Harmony putting the bowls away in one of the cupboards.

"Do you live here alone?" Youko asked.

Harmony nodded and gave a small smile, "Usually. Sometimes my brother and my cousin come and stay for a while. The rest of the time I'm alone."

"Don't you get lonely?" Youko asked as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat in it backwards so he could rest his crossed arms on the back of the chair and look at Harmony.

Harmony shook her head, "Sometimes, but then I can always go into the woods and find a stray, injured mutt to take in and nurse back to health. I mean, that's what I did today, ne?"

"Hey! I'm not a...!" Youko's sentence was interrupted by a bell from outside. He stood up quickly.

Both kitsune turned to look down the hallway at the door. The bell came again. Harmony sighed and walked to the entrance of the hallway. She looked over her shoulder at Youko, "Stay in the kitchen and don't let yourself be seen. I'll be right back."

"Who does she thinks she's talking to? I'm a thief! Of course I won't let myself be seen!" Youko grumbled to himself before noticing that the shuttered window he had seen in the living room was connected to the kitchen. He pulled a chair up to the window and leaned back against the wall. He turned his head so he could see through the slits in the shutters. He saw Harmony sigh and then open the door. At the door was a floating baby.

"Koenma! What an unpleasant surprise! To what do I owe the displeasure of your visit?" Harmony said between clenched teeth.

Koenma laughed, "Always a joker, Phantom."

"Who's joking? I really can't stand you." Harmony pointed out.

Koenma tried to get past Harmony. She blocked his way. He tried the other side, again she blocked him. He glared at her, "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Well...I would but...the last time you were here it took me nearly two moon spans (A.N: about two months) to disinfect the place." Harmony smirked as she saw Koenma's face redden in anger.

"Phantom, let me in!" Koenma yelled at the kitsune.

Harmony smiled, "But it's such a nice day outside! Why do you have to come inside?"

"We have important matters to discuss that nobody else can hear!" Koenma yelled.

"Then perhaps I should go outside and we'll talk there..."

"Are you hiding something?" Koenma narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, there's a wanted criminal in my kitchen." Harmony said unemotionally.

Youko's eyes widened, _she turned me in?!_

Koenma started laughing, "What would I do without you and your jokes?"

Harmony rolled her eyes. Youko fell out of his seat in surprise. There was a loud thud. Koenma stopped laughing and looked towards the kitchen. Harmony smiled nervously, "Don't mind that. I found a stray dog in the woods today and I'm taking care of him. His name's Sparky!"

Youko let out a low growl and narrowed his eyes at Harmony through the shutters. _She__'__s going to pay for that._

"Oh? A dog? Can I see him?" Koenma asked.

"Uh...No...He's not very friendly...He might bite you!" Harmony laughed nervously.

Koenma sighed, "Oh that's too bad...Ah! But we're getting off topic!"

"Right! Err...What was the topic again?" Harmony asked as she stared blankly at Koenma.

"I was asking to come in..."

"And I told you no! Ha-ha! I remember that now!" Harmony laughed.

Koenma sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just tell you why I'm here...A thief has stolen many valuable jewels from a very powerful demon lord."

"Which demon lord?" Harmony asked.

"The one that you pushed out a window." Koenma said icily.

Harmony hissed, "I'm telling you it was self defense! Serves him right that he got stolen from. I would've done it myself if I hadn't had to take care of that baka usagi (stupid rabbit)."

"We suspect that the thief is Youko Kurama. The bounty hunters that the demon lord had hired to protect his treasures were discovered being slowly eaten by plants not too far from here. They swore that it was a kitsune with black ears and tail that did it to them. Did you have something to do with that?" Koenma asked Harmony.

Harmony smirked, "I was wondering what type of seeds those were..."

"Phantom! It makes me look bad when one of my employees goes around attacking people for no good reason!" Koenma yelled.

"They were scaring the birds!" Harmony yelled in defense.

"So you summoned a plant to kill them?!"

"Yes! The happiness of the birds is more important than catching a criminal wanted for committing countless robberies and killing a bunch of bounty hunters! There are too many bounty hunters in the world, anyway!" Harmony yelled.

Youko was fighting to keep from laughing. Koenma was fuming. His face was red from anger as he glared at Harmony with a murderous glint in his eyes. Harmony's ears were back showing that she, too, was angry.

"The leader of the hunters insists Youko Kurama couldn't have gotten too far away with all the blood he was losing. He might very well be dead by now unless someone helped him." Koenma continued, still angry.

Harmony smiled, "Now who in their right mind would invite a bleeding stranger into their house?"

"You're right. And besides, you're the only one that lives around here and I know you would never help a criminal because then you'd be arrested." Koenma laughed.

"Well, I could always escape and kill you out of spite before leaving the palace via the secret passageway nobody's supposed to know about to go and hide somewhere in the Makai until everything settled down again." Harmony was smiling sweetly.

Koenma laughed more. After his laughter faded he looked at Harmony, "You...were joking about that...right?"

"No." Harmony replied simply while still smiling.

Koenma fidgeted nervously, "I came here to tell you that catching Youko Kurama is your new mission."

"Gee, as much as I'd **_love_** to take this mission, I can't. I'm on vacation." Harmony responded.

Koenma blinked, "Phantom, you don't get vacations."

"Then I quit. Good bye." Harmony started closing the door.

Koenma squeezed through the gap before she closed the door, "You can't quit!"

"Gah! INTRUDER!" Harmony picked up a broom and whacked Koenma with it, "Get out of my house!"

Koenma fell to the floor. He sat up rubbing his head, "Fine! If it'll stop you from quitting, you can have vacations!"

"Good. As of now I'm officially on vacation." Harmony smiled as she held the broom over her shoulder.

"You can't take a vacation now, when there's an important mission! You have to catch Youko Kurama!" Koenma yelled, now floating at eye level again.

Harmony was still smiling, "Sorry, can't help you, I'm on vacation."

"PHANTOM! Why must you always be so frustrating?!" Koenma yelled.

Harmony's smile widened, "Because it's fun!"

"Argh! ...Well will you at least go out with me?" Koenma smiled hopefully.

Harmony's smile faded, "Hold that thought."

"Ok..." Koenma was still hopeful as he watched Harmony put the broom back and walk into the kitchen.

Youko turned to watch Harmony curiously as she walked over to a cupboard and took out a box labeled 'In case of Koenma'. She opened the box and took out a sharp dagger. She walked back to where Koenma was.

Koenma eyed the dagger nervously, "Phantom...? Why do you have a dagger? Please put it down...Why are you looking at me like that? Um...I'll just take that as a no and leave..."

With that Koenma disappeared. Harmony sighed and walked back into the kitchen, where she put the dagger back in the box. She put the box back and smiled at Youko, "You hungry?"

Youko was staring at Harmony blankly. Harmony waved a hand in front of his face. She then noticed something, "Oh! Your clothes are stained with blood and torn! I'll go find something you can wear."

Harmony went to get some of her brother's spare clothes. On the way back she grabbed a pink kimono from her room. She walked back to the kitchen and hid her brother's clothes on a chair. She handed the kimono to Youko.

"Sorry, couldn't find any clothes for you. You'll have to make due with a kimono." Harmony smiled.

Youko's eyes widened, "Are you crazy?! I'm not wearing a kimono! I'll stay in these clothes, thank you very much."

"Aw, but you'd look good in a kimono..." Harmony protested, trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

Youko crossed his arms and glared at her, "No."

"Ha-ha! You should see your face right now! I was just joking! Here, you can have some of my brother's clothes. He'll never know." Harmony handed Youko the outfit. It was loose black pants and a blood red sleeveless shirt.

Youko took the clothes and stood up, "Where should I change?"

Harmony led him out into the hallway, "The door all the way at the end of the hallway leads to the bathhouse. All of these rooms except for the first one on the right and last one on the left are empty. Oh and the first one on the left is the basement. Do **_not_** open that door for any reason."

"Why not?" Youko asked, curious.

"Let's just say...you don't want to know." Harmony laughed nervously.

Youko nodded and gave the basement a nervous look before walking off down the hall. Once he was back Harmony offered to make food. The two kitsune spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know each other. They became fast friends. It was very late when the two of them decided to call it a night.

"It's late. You can stay in one of the spare rooms if you'd like." Harmony said as she stood at the entrance of the hall from the living room and looked back at Youko.

Youko grinned and stood up, "What? I can't share your room?"

"Pervert!" Harmony yelled. She threw a pillow at him.

Youko caught the pillow and smirked at her. She was blushing and trying to hide it. She turned around and walked down the hall. He followed, "So is that a no?"

"Good night." Harmony shot Youko a 'don't you dare follow' glare and walked into the first room on the right.

Youko grinned and walked off to the room next to hers. He lay awake for most of the night listening to the sounds around him. After a while of listening to the soft sound of Harmony's breathing as she slept, he stood up and gathered his things. He walked out of the room and stopped outside her door. Cautiously he opened the door and went over to her bed. He couldn't see much of the room since it was dark. Across from him was a window. The bed was against the left wall. There was a small night table on the left of the bed.

He looked down at Harmony as she slept and smiled. His smile faded when he saw the chip in her ear. He had noticed it before but had decided it was best not to ask about it. He reached down and gently pet around the chip. Harmony whimpered and turned over in her sleep so that he couldn't touch the ear. Youko frowned and clenched his fist.

_Harmony...I **will** find out who did that to your ear and I **will** kill him. I promise you that._

Youko sighed and allowed his hand to fall to his side. It bumped into the bag of jewels he had. He opened the bag and took out the necklace his mother had given him. The pendant shone slightly in the little bit of moonlight coming through the window. He smiled as he remembered his mother's words.

_So, this necklace was supposed to lead me to my soul that mean...? _Youko looked over the pendant at Harmony.

_Even if she is...I can__'__t stay here. It would put her in too much danger. _

Youko looked back at the necklace and sighed. He closed his fingers around it and closed his eyes for a moment. He then opened his eyes and put the necklace on the night table. He smiled at Harmony.

"This is my promise to you: We will see each other again."

Youko then turned, left the room, walked through the halls, and out the door. He stopped outside and looked at the house so that it would be embedded in his memory. He then walked away without looking back.

--End dream. (A.N: FINALLY! That dream's over 4000 words long!)

* * *

Dream: So, I'm adding an author's note. You people should feel honored. Actually I needed to clear some stuff up.

Disclaimer: Flash, Lioness, and Terminator are property of Winter –iel –o burzum. Hinote, Tundra, and Vladimir are property of EternalBlackNight. Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters are property of Yoshihiro Togashi. Autumn, Freckles, Phantom Harmony, Thorn, Dariken, Viern, Nuala, Ninikinaki, and the crystal belong to me, Dreamchasereternity. All other aspects and characters of this story belong to me unless otherwise stated.

Pronunciation key: I believe I probably should've put this at the beginning of this story, but I didn't so I'm putting it now. Yes, the thing most of you probably have been waiting for. I can just imagine you readers reading my stories and screaming "HOW THE HELL DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?!?!" Well, here is the answer to that question! Those of you that have some knowledge of the Japanese pronunciations of vowels, apply that to the names. Also, those with experience in Spanish pronunciations can apply that to the names since they're similar. I'm probably going to wind up making a web page with this once I stop being lazy... ( ::cough:: never ::cough:: )

Dariken: Dah-ree-ken

Dari: Dah-ree

Hinote: He-no-tay

Ninikinaki: Nee-nee-key-nah-key

Nuala: New-ah-la

Viern: Vee-urn


	12. The Quest for a Corner

The Quest for a Corner:

"I'm hungry! Where's breakfast?" Kuwabara whined after waking up. He had been the last one to wake up. Everyone else was sitting around the area where the fire had been the night before.

"We don't have breakfast..." Thorn pointed out.

"WHAT?!" Hinote, Dariken, Yusuke, and Kuwabara yelled at the same time.

Thorn rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously, "I didn't pack anything to eat...We don't have lunch or dinner either..."

"We're all going to starve to death!" Kuwabara yelled.

Autumn rolled her eyes as she started combing Freckles' fur, "It takes about seven days for someone to starve to death. I'm sure we'll find food before then."

"Autumn, this is not the time to be optimistic! We don't have any food!!!" Hinote yelled in horror.

Yusuke shrugged and pointed at Freckles, "Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always cook the rabbit."

"You bastard!" Autumn yelled and hit him over the head with Thorn's portable TV.

"Actually...that's not a bad idea..." Dariken mused.

"What?!" Autumn turned to glare menacingly at Dariken.

Dariken laughed nervously and hit Yusuke over the head, "What is wrong with you?! How could you even suggest cooking a rabbit that's that cute, sweet, fluffy, tender...I mean tasty...I mean...delicious...I mean...please don't kill me!"

Autumn glared at the kitsune that was groveling at her feet. Hiei scoffed, "You're a disgrace to all demons, groveling at the feet of a pathetic human."

"Hey! Watch what you say about my...!" Dariken turned to yell, but was interrupted by Autumn kicking the back of his head. He fell onto the ground face first.

"Dari, go sit in a corner and be quiet!" Autumn yelled at him.

"But..." Dari began to protest.

"No buts! Corner now!" Autumn glared at the kitsune.

"But..." Dari began again.

Autumn growled at him. He whimpered and stood up. He looked around, "Um..."

"Why aren't you in a corner yet, Dari?" Autumn asked menacingly.

Dari whined, "There are no corners!"

"You have until the count of 10 to get in a corner, Dari. 1...2...3...4..." Autumn began counting.

Dari whimpered and looked around frantically. He then took off running into the forest, "DON'T HURT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Autumn sat back down happily. Kurama sighed and shook his head, "Autumn, we needed him. He was the only one that knew how to get to Genki's..."

"Oh, he'll be back. As soon as he finds a corner and sits in it until he realizes I'm not chasing him, he'll come back." Autumn nodded.

Hiei narrowed his eyes, "You sure seem to know a lot about that kitsune, ningen."

"Eh...well I...have a relative that acts just like that! I was assuming that Dari would do the same thing that Da...._Derek_ would do!" Autumn nodded to emphasize her statement.

Hiei was still giving her a skeptic look. She pointed at Hinote, "Why are you suspicious of me, anyway? Be suspicious of him! You don't know anything about him!"

Hinote looked up from the piece of paper he was eating, "Hmm?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara gasped. Kuwabara pointed, "You were holding out on us! Traitor!"

"Wha...?" Hinote blinked.

"Let's get him!" Yusuke yelled. He and Kuwabara tackled Hinote and started trying to get the paper so that they could eat it.

Everyone else sweat dropped as they watched. Hiei turned to Autumn, "I know he's too much of an idiot to pose a threat to me, and that's good enough."

Autumn whispered to Flash, "Help me get him off my case."

Flash nodded and spoke to Hiei, "Well, Autumn's too much of an idiot to pose a threat to you, as well."

Autumn fell over anime style before getting up and glaring at Flash, "Gee, thanks a lot!"

"Always happy to help!" Flash grinned.

Autumn sat cross legged while glaring at Flash. Thorn looked around, "So, what should we do until Dariken comes back?"

"Um...We could..." Autumn scratched her head as she tried to think of an idea.

"Go hunting in order to find food!" Yusuke suggested.

Autumn turned to Flash, "Didn't you say that if we ran out of food, the bakas would be the first we kill?"

"Yeah, but I'm not **_that_** desperate for food." Flash nodded her head at Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Autumn nodded in understanding. Kurama stood up, "I for one believe that we should begin walking in the direction that Dariken was leading us."

"Ok, all in favor of Kurama's plan of walking in the heat with empty stomachs and ultimately getting hopelessly lost in the dark forest, raise your hands." Flash said and looked around.

Nobody raised their hand. Kurama sighed and sat back down. Autumn pat him on the back, "Don't worry, Kurama. It's not that you had a bad idea, it's that we're all lazy bums that don't want to move if we don't have to."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Kurama rolled his eyes and decided to try something different, "There will probably be food once we get to Genki's."

Before anyone could say the word 'bronco-buster', all of Kurama's companions were on their feet with all their stuff packed up and ready to go. Kurama grinned and stood up. Everyone was immediately ushered out of the clearing by Hinote, Yusuke, and Kuwabara.

"Come on, come on, we don't have all day. They're called legs, use them." Yusuke said to the others.

"Food, food, food, food!" Hinote was chanting.

Flash sighed, "Well, I guess now we have to try and figure out where this Genki person lives without Dariken's help. Who knows how long he'll be gone?"

"Probably a few hours." Autumn nodded.

Kurama pointed at the path they were walking on, "This path looks well traveled. If we stay on it, chances are we'll find Genki or at least someone that can point us in the right direction."

"Then let's walk faster!" Hinote urged.

Autumn pointed ahead of them and said in a fake British accent, "Yes, let us venture forth into the dark bowels of the forest that no humans have ventured into and survived to tell the tale! Let us go forth into the very jaws of death itself and then give it indigestion! Let us...!"

Flash hit Autumn over the head with her trusty metal pipe of doom, "That is the last time I let you invade my house to watch a 24-hour medieval movie marathon."

"Alas, 'tis a cruel, cruel world we live in." Autumn said in her accent as she looked at the ground.

**Meanwhile, in mini-world, which is not really mini and is the same exact place the story was in, just now closer to the ground**:

"Hey, dog, can't you pick up that fox's scent? I don't like the idea of being lost." Terminator said to Tundra.

Tundra sniffed the air, "Yeah, I smell his trail."

"Then go find him." Freckles pushed the dog's leg to try and get him to move.

"We'll go with you!" Terminator announced.

Tundra and Freckles stared blankly at him and said at the same time, "You/We will?!"

"Yeah, being around _that_ too long is making me lose my will to live." Terminator pointed at Kuwabara.

Tundra and Freckles nodded in agreement. Terminator then hopped up onto Tundra's back, "Onward, dog!"

"Who said you could ride on my back?" Tundra growled.

"I did. You got a problem with that?" Terminator hissed and showed his claws.

Tundra whimpered and laughed nervously, "No, of course not!"

"Onward, noble companions, for there are foxes to find and fair maidens to rescue!" Freckles announced and pointed into the forest while sitting on his hind legs.

Tundra and Terminator stared at him. Freckles laughed nervously, "Autumn made me watch the 24-hour medieval movie marathon with her..."

The cat and dog nodded in understanding. Terminator then kicked his back foot into Tundra's side with the claws out like he had once seen a cowboy do, "Giddy up!!"

Tundra yelped and started running in the direction he smelled Dariken's scent. Freckles took off running after him and quickly caught up. Terminator was laughing insanely as he balanced on the running dog's back.

The gang stopped walking and stared at the animals running away. The animals were then gone from sight. Everyone kept staring silently. Flash then spontaneously screamed, "FUCKER-DOODLE-SHIT!!!!!!!!"

Everyone turned to stare at Flash. Flash hissed and bared her teeth at them. They promptly turned around to stare at the forest again. Thorn poked Autumn, "You realize your rabbit just ran into the forest where he could get eaten, don't you?"

"Shh! I'm hoping that if I don't acknowledge it, it won't be true! Ok...enough not believing...FRECKLES YOU STUPID BALL OF FLUFF!!!!! YOU BETTER NOT GET EATEN BY SOMETHING BEFORE I CAN KILL YOU!!!!" Autumn yelled before taking off into the forest after the animals.

Hinote shrugged before running after Autumn. The others looked at Flash. She was standing there with her arms crossed, whistling in a bored way. She noticed everyone staring at her and glared, "What?"

"Your two friends just ran off into the forest..." Kurama pointed out.

"How is that my problem?" Flash asked.

"They're your friends..." Kurama explained.

"I don't follow..." Flash blinked.

"They could get killed out there..." the redhead continued.

"What does this have to do with me making money?" Flash asked.

"Is money more important to you then your friends?" Kurama asked.

"This conversation obviously has nothing to do with helping me make money or conning someone into giving me their wallet, so I refuse to participate further in it." Flash then turned her head away from Kurama, making it clear she no longer wanted to speak with him.

Kurama sighed and took out his wallet. He handed it to Flash. Flash grinned and hugged it before sticking it in her pocket. She then took off running after Autumn and Hinote. Hiei arched an eyebrow, "You do realize that she just conned you into giving up your wallet?"

"Oh, that wasn't my wallet, it was Kuwabara's." Kurama responded.

Kuwabara reached in his pocket then glared at Kurama, "How could you steal my wallet?!"

"Blame Youko!" Kurama put his hands up palm out in defense.

Thorn grinned, "It's like Youko always used to say, 'You can't con a con artist!'"

"Hey...What if they find food while they're out there?" Yusuke's eyes widened and he took off running after Flash.

Kuwabara quickly followed. Kurama sighed and chased after him. Hiei hopped into a tree and started hopping branches quickly. Thorn just shrugged and kept walking along the path. For Thorn, having lived around that area for a long time, knew that the path made a U-turn up ahead and the others would eventually wind up back on it.

As she was walking, Dariken ran right past her. He stopped and jogged backwards until he was side by side with her, "Where are the others?"

"Looking for the others." Thorn responded.

"That sounds too much like something my sister would say." Dariken narrowed his eyes.

Thorn got starry eyed and a happy pastel background appeared behind her as she clasped her hands together, "Really?! I've always dreamed of being just like her and now I see that my dream is finally coming true! I will work hard and someday I will be better at being Phantom Harmony than Harmony!"

As Thorn was rambling, Dariken was staring in awe at the background. He poked it and a loud snap was heard as the screen fell down to the ground, causing the pastel background to be projected onto the trees that had been behind the screen. Thorn and Dariken stared at the fallen screen. Some random people dressed completely in blue ran out from the trees and picked up the screen. They quickly set about reattaching the screen to the ropes that had been holding it up. Once it was reattached, they bowed and left. Thorn and Dariken blinked.

"Um...that scene is over...you can get rid of the screen now." Thorn pointed at the screen and looked somewhere off camera.

(Director: CUT! Let's redo that last scene and this time, Dariken, don't touch any of the props.

Dariken: ::salutes:: Aye, aye, cap'n!

Director: ::groans::)

Thorn got starry eyed and a happy pastel background appeared behind her as she clasped her hands together, "Really?! I've always dreamed of being just like her and now I see that my dream is finally coming true! I will work hard and someday I will be better at being Phantom Harmony than Harmony!"

Dariken's eyes widened as his sister's name triggered his mind to remember something, "WAH! Can't talk! Have to find a corner!!!!"

Thorn was so absorbed in her starry eyed rambling that she didn't hear Dariken. Dariken looked around, picked up a piece of bark and carved circles (eyes) and a lopsided mouth onto it with his claws. Next, he carved 'I r Dirkan' onto it and put it in front of Thorn. Once that was done, he took off running down the path in the direction Thorn had been walking.

Many moments later, the background disappeared as well as Thorn's starry eyes. She looked down at the piece of bark, "Wow, Dariken, you've been awfully quiet. Are you feeling ok? Maybe I should bring you to Kurama since he's the one that's good with healing magic."

Thorn picked up the bark and continued walking down the path.

**Meanwhile**:

Tundra and Freckles ran out of the forest and onto a large grassy path. Terminator looked both ways, "Where to?"

"This way!" Tundra barked as he took off running to the left with Freckles following.

Autumn and Hinote burst out of the forest sometime after the animals and started running left. They were soon followed by Flash, who was being followed by Yusuke and Kuwabara. Then Kurama ran out of the forest and Hiei hopped onto the path from a tree. They both started chasing after the others. The animals, following Dariken's scent, turned left. Everyone else turned left also. They made another left turn and continued running.

Some time later they ran past Thorn. The animals stopped, causing Hinote and Autumn to stop, which caused Flash to crash into them as well as Yusuke. They were able to keep their balance and sighed in relief. Then Kuwabara crashed into them. Autumn fell face first onto the ground as the animals ran out of the way. Hinote fell on top of her, Flash fell on top of them, Yusuke fell on top of her, and Kuwabara fell on top of him. Kurama and Hiei skidded to a stop near Thorn.

"Spine...breaking...pain...excruciating...." Autumn said painfully as she struggled to get out from under the rest of the pile.

Kuwabara sat up and looked around, "Hey, where is everyone?"

"Baka..." Hiei said to Kuwabara.

Kuwabara looked down, "How come shorty is shorter than he normally is?"

"Organs...imploding..." Autumn mumbled.

"Kuwabara! Move your fat ass!" Yusuke yelled.

Kuwabara looked down and saw that he was sitting on the pile of people, "Oh..."

"I'm badly in need of a shower now..." Yusuke muttered as Kuwabara got off of him.

"Life...flashing before eyes..." Autumn mumbled.

"You were badly in need of a shower before this." Flash pointed out before pushing Yusuke off.

Hinote got up and poked Autumn with his foot, "I think she's dead."

"No, she's fine. So, Thorn, what are you doing here?" Flash asked, ignoring Autumn.

Kurama kneeled down next to Autumn and shook her gently, "Wake up."

"Oh, well, I knew that this path basically goes in a circle so I decided to keep walking until I met up with you guys again." Thorn said cheerily.

"Why are you carrying a piece of bark?" Hinote asked.

"What are you talking about? This is Dariken!" Thorn pointed at the wood.

"Dariken's not a piece of bark." Autumn, who had suddenly woken up and was being helped to her feet by Kurama, pointed out.

"Where do you see a piece of bark?! This is Dariken! He even has it written on him underneath his mouth which is surprisingly lopsided and hasn't moved at all the entire time I've been carrying him!" Thorn held the wood out and pointed at the writing.

"'I r Dirkan'...? Gods, Dariken's an idiot! I can't believe he can't even spell his own name!! Not to mention the use of horrible grammar!" Autumn shivered.

"Yeah, I knew he was stupid but I didn't think he was that...Wait a minute....since when does Dariken know how to write?!" Flash looked around, wide-eyed, for her answer.

"I have no idea. I didn't think his brain was capable of performing such a complex task." Autumn shook her head.

"I resent that!" Dariken yelled as he ran by.

Thorn pointed at the retreating kitsune, "That guy looks awfully familiar..."

"There he goes! Let's catch him!" Terminator yelled as he spurred Tundra into a run again, followed by Freckles.

"Damn it all to hell!!" Hinote yelled as he and Autumn chased after the animals. Flash groaned and chased after them, followed by Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama and Hiei sighed before running after them.

Thorn blinked and said to the bark, "Gosh, Dariken, they must really love to exercise..."

The bark did nothing so Thorn yelled, "Well, that's rude! You could at least respond to me!"

"Hmph!" Thorn said, insulted, and then started walking after the others.

**Hours of running aimlessly in circles later**:

Everyone was sitting on the path, catching their breath. Dariken was sitting cross-legged and looking at everyone. Tundra walked over and put his paw on Dariken's leg, "I...finally...caught..."

Terminator tumbled onto the ground as Tundra collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep. Autumn was lying on her back on the grass with Freckles stretched out across her stomach. Hinote was lying face down on the ground where he had fallen after tripping over one of his untied shoelaces. Flash was sitting against a tree with her eyes closed. Yusuke and Kuwabara had collapsed long before and were lying in the middle of the path where they had been getting trampled by the others as they ran. Kurama was leaning against a tree, seemingly not bothered by the large amount of running. Hiei was sitting on a tree branch, silently laughing at the weaklings he was traveling with.

Thorn walked up to them, still holding the bark, "Hi everyone!"

"For the last time, Thorn, that is a piece of bark, not Dariken. This is Dariken." Autumn pointed at Dariken while still lying on her back.

"Oh, hello Dariken, meet Dariken." Thorn said as she held up the piece of wood.

"RARR!" Autumn yelled as she sat up, knocking Freckles off of her, and grabbed the bark. She then snapped it in two and threw the pieces into the forest.

"AUTUMN!!! How could you kill Dariken?!" Thorn yelled, "He was cute!!"

Dariken cleared his throat, "Well, I see my decoy worked well."

"It takes an idiot to fool an idiot." Autumn sighed.

"What is it with people and saying things that my sister would say?!" Dariken yelled.

"What is it with you and being an idiot?" Autumn asked.

Dariken hissed and turned away. Kurama sighed, "Can we get going now? We've wasted quite a bit of time already and I'd like to get there before sun down."

"Right! Well, it's really not too far from here. All we have to do is walk in that direction." Dariken pointed off to his right, "Or was it over there..."

Autumn hit Dariken over the head with her shoe. He laughed as he rubbed his head, "Yeah, it's the way I pointed originally. Now, let's get going before I lose more of my brain cells."

"I don't see how it would make a difference; you're already too stupid to spell your own name right." Flash pointed out.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Just walk, Koneko." Dariken glared.

Flash hissed. Dariken whimpered and hid behind Autumn. Kurama sighed, "Flash, please don't kill our guide until after he shows us where to go."

"Sure thing, pansy boy." Flash responded, earning her a death glare from both Kurama and Autumn.

**Later, after much walking and occasionally getting lost**:

"Alright, everyone, I give you, the merchant Genki's house!" Dariken announced as he stepped aside for everyone to see.

They were at the edge of the forest. The land in front of them had no trees and very few green plants. In fact, it was basically bare rock. In the distance directly in front of them the rock dropped down and an ocean was visible in the background. The sun was starting to make its decent in the west, which was behind them. Everyone looked at Dariken.

"Where's the house, Fido?" Autumn asked.

"Fido?" Yusuke questioned.

"Well, I can't use Spot because I've used that nickname for Hiei before and Sparky's taken by...someone else..." Autumn looked around with shifty eyes.

"Who?" Yusuke questioned further.

Autumn pointed, "Look! A flying hamburger!"

"He's not **_that_** stupid, Autumn." Hinote pointed out.

Yusuke was looking around frantically, "WHERE?! WHERE'S THE FLYING HAMBURGER?!"

"Is that the house over there?" Thorn asked as she pointed at a house to their left and quite far away.

"Um...yeah, that's probably it." Dariken nodded and started walking as everyone followed.

Once they were closer to the house they could see that it was a medium sized one story house. It was painted light blue and the roof was white. The side of the house facing the cliff edge had large windows taking up most of the wall. There was a small white porch on the side of the house facing the forest. On the porch were some randomly arranged blue chairs. The door, not surprisingly, was white.

"Well, this place seems...homely..." Yusuke blinked.

"It's to lure the customers into a false sense of security so they can be conned easier." Flash stated emotionlessly.

"How do you know?" Kuwabara asked.

Autumn arched an eyebrow, "Um...hello? You're talking to the girl that has Hinote's and Yusuke's wallets in her possession."

"And Kurama's." Flash added.

"It was Kuwabara's." Kurama pointed out.

Flash's eyes widened, "YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING THAT IT TOUCHED?!"

"Um...yes?" Kurama blinked.

"Damn, I wish it really had been Kurama's wallet." Autumn said.

"Why?" asked Hinote.

Autumn rolled her eyes, "Because once Flash removed the money from it she would've given it to me and it would've gone straight to my shrine!"

"You have a shrine to Kurama?" Yusuke arched an eyebrow.

"Well, not yet, but I do have a rather large collection of assorted Kurama goods. Oh, and an entire folder on my computer dedicated to Kurama pictures. And I have a vast amount of knowledge in the general field of Kurama." Autumn nodded.

"Ok, what's Kurama's human name?" Yusuke asked.

"Minamino Shuichi! Mother: Minamino Shiori. He has a younger step-brother named Shuuichi. He's 16, attends Meiou High School, and gets top grades in his classes." Autumn was counting off on her fingers.

Kurama laughed nervously, "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or frightened..."

"I'd be frightened if I were you." said Hiei.

Thorn reached out to pull the rope that was hanging from a crystal bell next the door. Autumn hissed and dove for the rope. She pulled it and the bell made a melodic jingle. There were some random shuffling sounds and moments later the door was opened a crack and a face peered out at them.

"State your names, what you're doing...DARIKEN!!!" The figure threw open the door and hugged Dariken.

Now that he was out in the open, everyone could see that the figure was a male kitsune. He was about Yusuke's height. His bangs, along with a cluster of spiky hair above his forehead, were white. Two locks of long white hair went down the sides of his face. The rest of his hair was black and reached down to about mid back. He was wearing a sea green short sleeved shirt and khaki colored pants. He had two black fox ears sprouting from his hair that were tipped with longer black fur. There was a large fluffy black fox tail wagging behind him as he continued to hug Dariken.

Dariken struggled to pull away, "GAH! Let go!!"

"Um...who are you...?" Autumn asked.

Dariken finally got out of Genki's grasp and straightened his clothes, "Everyone, this is the merchant Genki."

"Really? Where?" Genki turned in a circle looking around for the person Dariken had just introduced.

Dariken pointed at Genki's forehead. Genki stared at Dariken's pointing finger and then poked it with his own finger. He then moved his finger in the direction Dariken was pointing until he was pointing at himself, "Me?"

"Yes." Dariken nodded.

"Oh...oh! That's right! Hello everyone! Welcome to my shop!" Genki smiled and bowed.

Everyone was staring blankly at him. Flash blinked, "I do believe we have found someone almost as stupid as Kuwabara..."

"Hey!!" Kuwabara glared.

Hinote looked thoughtful, "You know, we're too mean to Kuwabara. I mean, sure he's ugly...no, disgusting...no, HIDEOUS, and stupid, no, idiotic...no, he's a moron, but those are a given, at least he sings pretty good..."

Kuwabara nodded, "Thank you, Hinote."

"You're welcome." Hinote smiled.

Genki leaned down to Autumn and started sniffing the air around her, "You smell like a k..."

"SHH!!" Dariken, Flash, and Hinote yelled as all three of them covered Genki's mouth.

Autumn laughed nervously. Hiei narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Like a what?"

"HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! I'M NOT HIDEOUS OR A MORON!!" Kuwabara yelled as he started chasing Hinote around in circles.

"GAHH! Get it away!! HELP!!" Hinote yelled as he ran.

Autumn sighed in relief for the distraction. Kurama sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration, "We've never had such a frustrating mission before..."

"That's because you've never had us on your missions!" Autumn chirped.

Flash nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it's an unwritten rule that the three of us have to cause as much trouble as possible."

"So, why are all of you here and why does that guy have a shredded pant leg?" Genki pointed at Kuwabara.

Kuwabara stopped and looked down at his leg, "What the hell?! When did THAT happen?"

"The cat did it when we were at Koenma's office, Kurama was trying to tell you but we were all covering his mouth." Thorn nodded.

"Well, that's one mystery solved, now all I need to do is figure out where that draft is coming from..." Kuwabara scratched his head.

Everyone sweat dropped. Genki stepped aside and motioned for everyone to enter the house, "Come on in and we'll discuss why you're here."

The room was a basic square room, with light cream colored walls and ceiling. Lining each wall of the room were shelves holding different kinds of trinkets and books. The wall opposite from them held two doorways. One had light blue beads hanging from the top to the floor that blocked the area beyond from view. The other doorway had a plain dark brown door which was currently open, revealing a storage room with many piled boxes and things that was being lit by some hanging lamps. The room that they were in was being lit by hanging green paper lamps in each corner. There was also a medium sized window in the ceiling. The floor was made with light brown wood.

In the center of the room, and directly underneath the window, was a medium sized square area where the floor was lower. There was a plush white rug covering the floor of the lower area. In the center of that area was a low rectangular coffee table that was parallel to the wall where the entrance was. Parallel to each longer side of the coffee table was a midnight blue couch that took up the entire side. It looked like that was where the business was conducted.

Everyone started wandering around the shop looking at different things in awe. It had to have been the largest collection of old, useless things ever. Some statues were missing heads or limbs. Those were labeled 'one of a kind'. Autumn started poking a glass orb that had purple lightning inside it. It was resting on a fancy golden base. Every time she poked it the lightning shocked her finger. She was soon joined by Flash and Hinote as all three began poking the orb.

"Hey, what's that?" Kuwabara asked as he pointed at a sword with half the blade broken off.

"Why, that's a new style of sword! The jagged edge of the blade makes it hurt more!" Genki smiled.

"It looks broken." Yusuke pointed out.

"It **_is_** broken." Autumn said.

Genki shook his head, "No, no! The broken look is supposed to lure the opponent into a false sense of security. It's a highly strategic weapon."

"I want one!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Very well, but I cannot be held responsible for any limbs that may be lost as a result of using my products. Oh, and no returns." Genki nodded.

Kuwabara reached into his pocket for his wallet, "Huh? Where's my...oh yeah, Kurama gave it to Flash."

"The sword's broken, anyway." Autumn said.

Genki ushered everyone to the two couches in the lowered area, "Sit, sit, and relax. Now then, why are all of you here?"

Kurama decided to answer with a question, "Do you know anything about a feather shaped crystal?"

"You mean the Hane no Kisetsu? The crystal that used to be kept in the Mist Mountains which was recently stolen from Reikai?" asked Genki, sitting down on the step with his feet on the carpet.

"How come Koenma didn't know the name?" Yusuke asked.

"Oh, the name of the crystal was only known by the Mist Mountain Kitsune." Genki nodded.

"Then how do you know it?" Flash asked suspiciously.

Genki shrugged, "Well, I spent a few years living in the Mist Mountains and I found out from a friend there."

"Oh, so do you know where the Hane no Kisetsu is right now?" Autumn asked.

Genki thought for a moment, "Hmm...In the mountain range north of the Mist Mountains there's a large valley. At the northern end of the valley is a mountain that looks like all the others except that there are caverns carved inside the mountain. You'll recognize it by the creepy cave opening. The mountain is known as the Mountain of Illusion among thieves and merchants."

Kurama, Thorn, and Hiei nodded, knowing full well what mountain Genki meant. Thorn then blinked, "Hey wait...that's where I was going to bring everyone originally..."

"So why did we come all the way out here instead of going straight there?" Yusuke asked.

"Because we needed a filler chapter to waste time since the original chapter 12 was pointless and didn't fit with the revised story. Thus, we have this pointless chapter to replace it!" Autumn grinned.

(Director: For the last time: STICK TO THE SCRIPT!!

Autumn: Oh, I fed the script to my rabbit.

Director: RARR!!!!)

"Director aggravating humor aside, you should all get going before it gets dark." Genki pointed out.

Yusuke looked around, "You got any food we can have? _Somebody_ forgot to pack food."

Thorn laughed nervously as Yusuke glared at her. She put her hands up in defense, "It slipped my mind!"

"Sure, I've got food, but it's going to cost you." Genki nodded.

Flash hissed. Yusuke, Hinote, and Kuwabara turned to Kurama. Kurama looked at them, "What?"

"Well, Flash has our wallets and I seriously doubt she'd be willing to buy food for all of us. Hiei probably doesn't have money, Autumn doesn't carry money with her, Thorn and Dariken seem too brain-dead to have thought of bringing money, and you're the only one left with a wallet." Hinote nodded.

"Wait!" Flash called which stopped Kurama from taking out his wallet.

Kurama blinked, "Yes?"

"Before you pay for anything I want to inspect the food and the picnic basket you'll be giving us" Flash nodded.

Genki shrugged, "Alright."

"Dot dot dot..." Autumn said as Genki left the room through the blue beads.

Genki came back a moment later with a nice looking light brown picnic basket that had two handles. He was also carrying some bread, fruits, veggies, some meat, and other food stuffs. He put them all down on the coffee table. Flash looked over the foods and inspected them. She then inspected the basket.

"I want to make sure all the food fits properly in the basket." Flash said as she started carefully arranging all the food into the basket as the others watched in puzzlement. She stood up, "Now I have to make sure it's not too heavy and doesn't hurt my hand..."

Flash picked up the basket and ran out the door, "SUCKER!!!"

Everyone sat blinking for a moment. Genki then pointed at the door, "Is she taking it out to test how well she can run with it?"

"Um...yeah...sure..." Hinote said, looking around with shifty eyes.

"We...have to go now! Bye!" Autumn said as she stood up, along with everyone else.

Genki smiled and stood up, "It was nice meeting all of you, even though I never learned your names, which is fine because I would've forgotten them by now anyway. Unless I did learn your names, in which case I've forgotten them. Anyway, do come back again if you ever need any help with anything."

"Yeah, ok." Yusuke nodded.

The group then left Genki's shop and met up with Flash at the edge of the forest. Flash held up the basket, "We've got DINNER!"

"YAY!!!!!!!!" Dariken, Hinote, Kuwabara, Autumn, and Yusuke yelled at the same time.

Kurama, being a goody-goody, frowned, "It wasn't right to steal from him like that."

"Oh, quit complaining, I'm sure you want this food as much as the rest of us." Thorn said.

Kurama shook his head furiously, "I refuse to eat stolen food."

"Sparky never thought twice about eating stolen food..." Autumn mumbled.

Kurama, who was standing right next to her, was able to hear that. His eyes widened and his head snapped to look at her. Autumn was staring up at the sky that was starting to change colors. Kurama blinked and looked to the trees around them.

_Could she have meant Youko when she said __'__Sparky__'__?_

_'__Of course she did! Who else could she have meant?__'___

_ But how did she know your nickname? The only one that ever called you that was Harmony..._

_'__I__'__m not sure how she knew about it, but I aim to find out. As soon as you__'__re alone with her, we__'__re going to question her and she **will** tell us, one way or another.__'___

_ You__'__re not suggesting that I hurt her, are you?_

_'__Whatever it takes, if this girl knows anything about Harmony...__'___

Kurama sighed softly and looked at Autumn as she was talking to Dariken and Flash about something. He didn't like what Youko was suggesting. As much as that girl scared him sometimes, he had actually grown quite fond of her over the past few days. It almost felt like he had known her his entire life. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone snickering beside him.

"Admit it, you like her." Thorn said with a kitty grin from where she was standing next to him.

Kurama scoffed as he turned to face her, "Of course I like her, if I didn't I wouldn't be able to stand traveling with her."

"Not in that way! You like her as something more...I can tell!" Thorn hid a snicker behind her hand. Kurama could've sworn he saw her hand as a paw and kitty ears were sprouting from her head.

"I don't!" Kurama protested as his face turned slightly pink.

"You're blushing! I knew it! You **_do_ **like her like that!" Thorn pointed with her 'paw' and hid another snicker behind her other 'paw'.

Kurama glared and frowned, "Even if I do, it doesn't matter. Youko will never let me live peacefully. He's still completely devoted to Harmony."

"Kurama, don't listen to voices in your head, it isn't healthy." Hinote said as he moved to stand next to Thorn.

Kurama sighed and looked away. Thorn, who was no longer in kitty mode, frowned, "Hmph, it's not fair for Youko to keep you from living happily with someone you love!"

"Yeah, but I technically am Youko...I do have feelings for Harmony..." Kurama rubbed his forehead in frustration.

Hinote smiled softly, "You want to know what I think? I think you should follow what your heart says, not what the voice in your head says."

"But..." Kurama began to protest. He was cut off by Hinote hitting him on the head with a conveniently placed tree branch.

"Listen up, Kurama, because I'm only going to say this once. Stop worrying so damn much about what the voice in your head is telling you. You've got a living heart, use it! And stop moping, it's annoying. If you're going to be depressed, be depressed on your own time and leave me out of it." Hinote then hit Kurama with the branch again for emphasis.

"But...you got involved on your own..." Thorn blinked.

Hinote hissed at her. Kurama rubbed his head and said between clenched teeth, "Thanks for the advice..."

"Heh; think nothing of it." Hinote said as he started walking away. He looked over his shoulder at Kurama, "Oh and it might help if you pay more attention to the people around you."

Once Hinote was gone, Kurama blinked, "He reminds me so much of someone I used to know..."

Thorn and Kurama watched as Hinote walked into a tree. Kurama arched an eyebrow, "Ok...maybe not."

"Ow..." Hinote glared at the tree as he started walking in a different direction.

_Did you have to hit him with that branch, Vlad?_ Hinote asked himself.

The voice in his head that was Vladimir, a vampire, answered, _'__Yes, it__'__s the best way to teach him a lesson.__'___

_ It seems kind of violent...then again, I suppose that__'__s the only way you know how to persuade someone...Maybe Autumn__'__s right...you do need obedience training..._

_'__SHE SAID THAT?! RARR!!! I__'__m adding that to my list of reasons to kill Autumn...__'___

_ Aw...it__'__s mean to kill people..._

_'__Your point...?__'___

_ ...point...y...POINTY! _Hinote grinned and started dancing. Vladimir, if he had had his own body, would have murdered him right then and there.

Flash hit Hinote over the head with her metal pipe, "No more happy for you."

"Aw..." Hinote pouted.

Dariken pointed at the sky, "It's getting dark, let's go find a clearing to eat dinner in and then go to sleep."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Yusuke grinned.

Everyone agreed and started walking into the forest.

* * *

Dream: Sorry for the long update time! I sort of lost inspiration, but I should be working on my fanfics more often since starting next chapter I won't be completely rewriting everything. I apologize to everyone and I hope you find this chapter to be worth the wait...Oh, and more about Hinote's voice will be explained later on as in other stories...Anyway, please review and I'll get started on the next chapter as soon as possible!! 


	13. The Hellish Clearing of No Return

**The Hellish Clearing of No Return**:

**That night:**

Flash had volunteered to take midnight watch. She was sitting in front of where they had had a campfire earlier and was poking at the ashes. The others had had to fight her in order to put the fire out. She had really wanted to leave it burning. In the end Yusuke poured a bottle of water over her and the flame. He didn't get away uninjured, of course. Currently, he was sleeping face down on the ground where he had fallen since the pain was too much to bear when he moved.

Flash looked around at the others. Tundra was sleeping curled up nearby. Terminator was sleeping on Tundra's back and Freckles was stretched out next to Tundra. Hinote was sleeping on his side, using his bag as a pillow. Hiei was sleeping in a tree. Dariken was curled up on the ground drooling and every so often he would mutter a random food name. Kuwabara was sleeping on his side somewhere away from everyone else. Thorn was sleeping while leaning against a tree with her wings wrapped around herself. Autumn was sleeping soundly with her head on her bag while hugging a small white beanie baby fox that had golden eyes. Kurama was leaning against a tree nearby sleeping. He had positioned himself so that he was between Autumn and the forest in case anything tried to attack, though he had made it seem like his sleeping place was randomly chosen.

Flash sighed and looked up at the moon, "This is just wonderful, I'm stuck here watching everyone sleep and I don't even have a fire to poke. They owe me for this...Hmm...Who is still in possession of their wallet...?"

"Kurama is, but if you disturb his sleep, I'll kill you." Answered Autumn, who was now standing behind Flash.

Flash jumped up, turned to face Autumn, and fell backwards. She hissed lowly so the others wouldn't be disturbed, "DON'T _DO_ THAT!!!"

"Aw, is the wittle kitty frightened?" Hinote, standing behind Flash, mocked.

Flash repeated her action from before. She then stood up and glared at her two laughing friends, "What are you two doing awake, anyway?"

"Well, I just randomly woke up." Autumn nodded.

Hinote shrugged, "Yeah, me too."

"You know, I think we should be more careful. Hiei's very suspicious of us and I'm not sure how long we can keep our secrets secret from him." Autumn pointed at the tree where Hiei was sleeping.

"Actually, he's only really suspicious of you. As long as he's too busy trying to figure out what you're hiding then I'm safe." Hinote nodded.

Autumn hissed at him. Hinote laughed nervously, "I mean...I'll help you get him off your case any way that I can!"

"Good knave." Autumn pat Hinote on the head.

Hinote hissed and glared at Autumn. He grabbed her wrist and moved it away, "Don't come within 5 feet of me."

"Aw, stop being such a grumpy pants Tinkerbell...I mean...Vlad." Autumn laughed nervously and looked around with shifty eyes.

"RARR!!!!" Hinote, who was actually being controlled by his demon half, yelled and pulled out a pocket knife to stab Autumn.

"Hey, an acorn!" Autumn announced as she walked over to where she saw the acorn, causing Vlad to miss and get the knife stuck in the ground.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!!! Why can't you stay still long enough for me to kill you?!" Vlad yelled.

"Because the authoress loves to make your life a living hell and as long as she's in control, you'll never get what you want." Autumn nodded.

"Would you two shut up?! I don't want the others waking up!!" Flash hissed at Vlad and Autumn.

"But if the others were to wake up then they would want breakfast! That means breakfast would come sooner!!" Hinote said, very excited. He picked up some random pot lids that he found in Thorn's bag and started banging them together, "Wake up! Wake up! Hinote wants his breakfast now!"

Autumn and Flash tackled Hinote to the ground, causing the pot lids to fly out of his hands. One of them landed harmlessly on the ground and the other one flew and smacked Kurama in the head. He immediately woke up and looked around with wide eyes. He rubbed his head and stared at Flash and Autumn, who were lying on top of Hinote. Autumn immediately stood up and rushed over to Kurama.

"Holy hell! Are you hurt?! You're not bleeding, are you? None of your vital organs imploded, did they?!" Autumn asked in a panicked voice while crouched next to Kurama. After literally a second of Kurama not answering, Autumn started panicking more, "Oh my frogs! Your vital organs really _did_ implode!!! Hinote, look what you did!!!"

"It wouldn't have happened if you two hadn't tackled me to the ground!" Hinote protested.

Flash rolled her eyes, "Well, if you hadn't been trying to wake everyone up..."

"Please, stop pointing fingers. I'm alright, just a little surprised." Kurama smiled reassuringly at them.

Autumn threw her arms around Kurama, "YAY! Your organs didn't implode!!!"

"No, I'm happy to say that they didn't" Kurama laughed as he moved an arm around Autumn.

Flash was looking around, "Wow, Hinote, I can't believe you didn't wake anyone up with all the noise you were making."

"So, that's what was making all that noise." Hiei said coldly as he hopped out of the tree Kurama was leaning against. He turned around to face Kurama and arched an eyebrow at seeing Autumn hugging him and Kurama with his arm around her.

Autumn smiled and waved, "Hi, Nomi!"

Flash hit Hinote on the head, "You woke up Hiei! You idiot!"

"Hit him once for the pot lid that hit Kurama." Autumn called.

Kurama shook his head, "No, I'm fine, don't hit him."

Flash hit Hinote on the head again. Hinote hissed and pointed at Kurama while looking at Flash, "He said not to!"

"Yeah, but she told me to, and she's more threatening than Kurama. You never know what she'll do." Flash pointed at Autumn.

"What are all of you doing awake, anyway?" Hiei asked.

"We were holding a secret meeting to plan the most effective ways to kill all of you slowly and painfully." Autumn responded automatically.

Kurama and Hiei stared at her. Autumn smiled sweetly at them and tilted her head to the side, "Something wrong?"

"No, of course not!" Kurama smiled.

Hiei looked at the two of them in a disgusted manner, "Kitsune, we have to talk."

"Huh? Why?" Kurama blinked.

"Gasp! Hiei wants to _talk_! It's the end of the world!!!" Hinote yelled and pointed at the fire demon while hiding behind Flash.

Hiei glared at Hinote before glaring at Kurama, "Now."

"Alright, Hiei." Kurama sighed and moved his arm from around Autumn. He then stood up and said to the three, "We'll be back soon."

Autumn stood up as she, Flash, and Hinote watched Kurama and Hiei walk towards the forest. Hinote called after them, "Keep your clothes on, you two!"

Autumn and Flash both hit Hinote on the head as Kurama and Hiei turned to glare back at him. The kitsune and the fire demon then turned around and walked into the cover of the trees. They stopped after they had walked a little way into the forest so that they could keep an eye on the others and not be seen or heard. They watched the three psychos settle around the place where the fire had been.

Kurama crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree as he stood looking at Hiei, "What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"You're becoming too attached to that girl, kitsune. We barely know anything about her. It would be wise to use caution." Hiei responded.

Kurama frowned, "Are you suggesting that Autumn might be pretending to be a fan in order to get close to me?"

"Yes." Hiei responded simply.

"You're being too suspicious Hiei. I'll admit we don't know much about her, but I do know that she means us no harm." The redhead pointed out, trying not to lose his temper.

Hiei hissed, "You're being too naïve. For all we know, she could have set up the meeting between us. She could have been setting up a trap for you since we first met and you're walking straight into it like a fool!"

"I've heard enough of your nonsense, Hiei! You have no proof of any of this! Why can't you accept that not everyone is hiding some dark secret or has ulterior motives?! What of Flash? We don't know all that much about her, either, but are you suspicious of her?" Kurama had raised his voice during this outburst. He allowed Hiei a moment to make a response. When none was made, Kurama continued in an angry tone, "I thought you were above such things as having a double standard, but I suppose you're no better than the humans you claim to hate."

Hiei watched as the kitsune turned and walked back to the camp with his hands clenched into fists. Hiei looked at the ground for a moment before hopping into the tree branches to find a place away from the others to spend the rest of the night.

Kurama sighed and rubbed his forehead when he reached the edge of the trees. Getting into an argument with Hiei had been the last thing he'd wanted. He had been frustrated about Youko's constant urgings to question Autumn about Harmony and had snapped when the fire demon had accused Autumn of not being truthful about her intentions. He hadn't wanted to lose his temper, but he had, and now he had to deal with the reality that he may have shattered the fragile friendship he'd developed with the fire demon.

Autumn, Flash, and Hinote looked up and over as Kurama reentered the clearing and walked over to them. Flash looked around, "Where's Hiei?"

"He...went to spend the rest of the night elsewhere..." answered Kurama after a moment's hesitation.

Autumn and Flash exchanged looks. Flash nodded and stood up, "I'm going to be gone for a little while. I'll be back later."

"Be careful." Kurama said as he sat down near Autumn.

"Don't worry about me, Sparky." Flash responded.

Autumn nodded, "Yeah, don't you know that cats have 9 lives?"

"Shut it, mutt!" Flash yelled back at Autumn.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at Flash. Hinote rolled his eyes, "Honestly, you two really need to grow up."

"This coming from the boy that was banging pot lids together in an attempt to wake everyone up so that he could have breakfast early." Autumn pointed out.

Hinote hissed at her. Kurama chuckled, "How can you two be so awake at such an early hour?"

"Well, don't tell anyone, but I have a secret stash of pocky in my backpack for emergencies." Hinote nodded.

Autumn held up the pendant on its chain which was still around her neck, "The shiny-ness makes me hyper."

"So, Kurama, who do you think took the Han-something crystal from Reikai?" Hinote asked.

"The Kisetsu no Hane." Autumn pointed out.

Kurama shook his head, "Koenma didn't tell us anything that could possibly clue us in to the identity of the thief."

"Ok...what do you know about this mountain that we're going to later?" Hinote questioned.

Autumn and Hinote listened carefully as Kurama recounted all he had heard about the mountain. Autumn was thankful to not have Hiei glaring at her or asking her questions about who she was. Kurama was thankful for the distraction from his guilt at having yelled at Hiei. Hinote was thankful for not being ignored...and having pocky! _Strawberry_ pocky!

**Elsewhere in the forest:**

Flash was walking through the woods looking for Hiei. She was following the scent trail left behind as he had hopped from tree branch to tree branch. It led her to a small pond that was in the middle of a small clearing. The water was still and clearly reflected the sky and the moon upon its smooth surface. Hiei was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pond. He threw a little pebble into the water angrily. Flash picked up an acorn and threw it at his head as she approached. Hiei growled and turned his head to see who it was with one hand reaching for his katana. Flash smiled and waved before sitting down.

"What happened between you and Kurama?" Flash asked.

"Nothing." Hiei growled as he let his hand fall from his katana and turned his attention back to the pond.

"I know it was something. Kurama seemed really upset and you look ready to kill something. Of course, you always look ready to kill something, but that's what Kuwabara's for, ne?" Flash turned to Hiei to see if her attempt to cheer him up had worked.

Hiei's lip twitched as if he was debating whether to smile or frown. Flash rolled her eyes, leaned over, and pulled Hiei's lips up into a smile. Hiei's eyes widened and he tried to pull her hands away. Flash laughed and let go of him. He glared and moved a few inches away from her.

"What the hell was that?!" Hiei demanded.

Flash grinned, "I was trying to teach you how to smile."

"I don't need you to teach me anything." The fire demon glared at her.

"Not even how to be a good friend?" Flash asked.

Hiei turned away from her, "I don't need friends."

"Everybody needs somebody Hiei, even if it's just somebody to sit in silence with. I can tell that, whether you're willing to admit it to yourself or not, you value Kurama's friendship. So, I'd say you either spend the rest of the mission and the countless missions after in misery or you patch things up with Kurama and only have to suffer the misery caused by Kuwabara's existence." Flash nodded.

Hiei let a very slight smile show itself as he looked at the reflections in the pond. Flash also looked at the pond. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Hiei then looked at Flash out of the corner of his eye.

"What is your friend hiding?" The fire demon asked.

Flash looked at him with wide eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Your friend Autumn, I know you're helping her hide something from the rest of us." Hiei responded, turning to face her.

Flash laughed nervously and stood up, "I should get back to camp now!"

"All of you keep avoiding questions about it. It only makes her more suspicious." Hiei pointed out, also standing up.

"You only need to know that she doesn't mean any harm to anyone." Flash said before turning and walking back into the forest.

Hiei scoffed before hopping into the trees to think about everything that had just happened.

**Back at the campsite:**

"I'm going to go get firewood and then we'll make a fire!" Hinote announced before getting up and going over to the large pile of twigs that had been made on the other side of the campsite.

Kurama poked absently at the ashes of the fire that had been there before everyone went to sleep. Autumn poked his shoulder, "What did you and Hiei get into a fight about?"

"How did you know we got into a fight?" Kurama looked at her in shock.

Autumn shrugged, "Well, I had my suspicions when you came back without him, looking pretty upset, but I didn't know for sure until you just told me."

"Ah, of course, you tricked me into telling you." Kurama shook his head, disappointed with himself for not realizing earlier.

Autumn smirked. Her smirk then faded to a serious expression, "Why did you two fight?"

Kurama sighed, "He warned me not to get too close to you because he thinks you're hiding some dark secret or something."

"Ha-ha...Why on earth would he think that...?" Autumn laughed nervously.

Kurama shook his head, "Well I sort of snapped at him for it and then stormed off. I think I may have destroyed our friendship..."

"Come on, if you two are really friends then this won't change that. True friendship can't be destroyed so easily. True friends stay friends even after not seeing or hearing from each other for a long time. True friends stay friends even after death." Autumn nodded knowingly.

Kurama smiled slightly as he sat looking at her. After a moment she fidgeted nervously, "What?"

"I have yet to fully understand you. Sometimes you seem like a completely different person..." the redhead responded.

Autumn laughed and handed him a penny. He looked at it and then at her questioningly. She smiled, "Look at the penny. On one side you see a person but on the other side there's a building. They may seem completely different but in reality they're both still the same penny. Plus, Abe lives in the building when he doesn't have to be sitting there on one side of the penny."

Kurama laughed and closed his hand around the penny. Hinote came over, "That's so cheap of you, Autumn. You could've given him something worth more than a penny."

"Hey, that's a lucky penny! I found it on the way to the park with Freckles before I first met Kurama!" Autumn protested.

"Thank you, Autumn. I really appreciate it and the advice." Kurama smiled at her.

Autumn smiled back happily. Flash walked back to the others, "What's everyone so happy for?"

"Kurama's making a fire!" Autumn pointed at Kurama as he arranged the twigs.

"YAY! FIRE!" Flash sat down and waited patiently for the fire.

Yeah right! Let's try that again...

"YAY!!! FIRE!!!!!" Flash sat down and hissed at Kurama, "Fire now, knave!"

"The twigs have to be properly..." Kurama began.

"I don't care! Just make the fire now or else I'll chop off all that precious hair of yours!!" Flash hissed.

Kurama yelped in fear and quickly put a match to the twigs. Flash laughed insanely and started poking the fire.

"Flash, don't do that, it's dangerous." Kurama said.

"Quiet pansy." Flash responded and poked the fire again.

From his perch nearby, Hiei was falling asleep while listening to Kurama's constant protests about Flash poking the fire. Hinote munched on his pocky as he watched and Autumn soon dozed off against Kurama.

**The morning ****even though, technically it was already morning, just really early**

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked as he peered over Flash's shoulder.

Flash didn't take her eyes from the magazine she was reading. Instead she used the hand that wasn't holding it to pick up her metal pipe and hit Hinote in the face with it. Hinote whimpered and walked over to where Autumn was sitting and watching Yusuke and Kuwabara argue about something. He leaned over next to her.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

Autumn hit him in the face with a rubber chicken from her bag. Hinote whimpered and walked over to Thorn. She was talking to Dariken about something while he stared at her blankly, not understanding a word that she was saying. Hinote stood next to Thorn, "Breakfast?"

Thorn hissed at Hinote, "You made me lose my train of thought!"

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked again.

Thorn glared, "What is with you?"

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked, only this time he had been accompanied by Dariken.

Thorn's eye twitched, "No! Say it with me now, N-O!"

"Break-fast?" Hinote and Dariken were joined by Kuwabara and Yusuke, who had stopped their argument at the mention of food.

"ARGH!" Thorn threw her arms in the air before storming away.

The four hunger driven comrades made their way over to Kurama. The redhead was training with his whip. As the four approached, the whip flew straight towards Dariken. It hit him in the chest, but instead of cutting into him, there was a loud squeak sound, like that of a squeaky toy. Two halves of a stuffed panda toy fell out of Dariken's shirt and landed on the ground with a final squeak. The five boys stared at the panda. Dariken let out a loud sob before falling to his knees.

"NOOOOOOOOO! NOT MR. PANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY?! WHY MR. PANDA?!" Dariken sobbed.

Kurama called his whip back into a rose and stashed it in his hair. He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry, Dariken...but at least no one was hurt, ne?"

"No one was hurt?! _No one was hurt?!?_ How can you say that when Mr. Panda is lying on the ground in two pieces! There is only supposed to be one piece of panda, not two!" Dariken yelled and pointed at the toy.

"That's how small squeaky panda toys multiply, Dari." Autumn said in a voice that one would use when telling a child a sweet little lie to make them feel better as she walked up to the group.

"Really?" Dariken asked.

Autumn nodded, "Yes. What we have here are two baby pandas."

"You mean...Mr. Panda is a mommy?" Dari asked in a childlike voice.

Autumn scratched her head, "Ignoring the gender confliction in that statement....yes."

"Yaaaayyy!" Dariken grinned and picked up the upper half of Mr. Panda, "Your name is Mr. Panda Hat. And your name..." Dariken picked up the bottom half, "...is Mr. Panda Pants."

Autumn laughed unenthusiastically as she watched Dari get up and skip away happily. In her mind, Harmony was repeating one phrase over and over, _'__I am not related to him. I am not related to him. I am not related to him.__'_

_'__Harmony is related to that guy?!__'_Youko exclaimed in shock.

Kurama had to fight a laugh. _I suppose that__'__s why she never mentioned that she had a brother._

Hinote, Yusuke, and Kuwabara crowded around Kurama. He blinked nervously at them, "Um...Yes...?"

"Breakfast?" The three asked.

Kurama shook his head, "No, we've wasted enough time already. We already agreed that as soon as Hiei shows up, we're starting back on our quest."

"_Breakfast?_" The three hungry boys asked more forcefully.

Autumn took a box of pocky out of Hinote's bag, "Guys look!"

The three boys turned, saw the pocky, crowded around her, and started jumping for it as she held it above their heads. "Sit." she commanded.

The boys obediently sat and stared up at her with their tongues hanging out and drooling as they waited for their pocky. Autumn threw the box, "Fetch!"

Hiei was walking into the clearing as a box of pocky flew over and landed a few inches to the side of him. He stared at the box for a moment before being tackled and pushed to the side by three pocky craving boys. As Hiei sat on the ground with a shocked and horrified expression, the three boys attacked each other and tore into the box of pocky. Flash, Autumn, and Kurama ran over to Hiei.

"Are you ok?" Kurama asked and reached out a hand for Hiei.

Hiei stared at Kurama's hand, then at Kurama. Kurama was smiling in a friendly way. Hiei let a slight smile of his own show before taking the kitsune's hand and letting himself be helped to his feet. Autumn and Flash gave each other a high-five, knowing they had helped patch things up between the two. Hiei dusted himself off.

"Those fools never cease to find new ways to prove their stupidity." Hiei growled.

"Look, panda children! There are people playing a game!" Dariken said to the panda toy halves as he walked over to stand near Autumn. He lifted Mr. Panda Pants to his ear, "What's that, Mr. Panda Pants? It looks more like they're fighting? Well, I suppose that's true, but I don't see a reason for them to be fighting...Do you, Mr. Panda Hat?"

Flash, Hiei, Kurama, and Autumn sweat dropped. Flash turned to Dariken, "And you wonder why Harmony denies being related to you."

Dariken got all teary eyed, "Baby sister no love me?"

Autumn's eye started twitching violently, _Must not...murder..._

_'__KILL HIM!!!!!!__'_Harmony screeched.

_And give us away?!_ Autumn retorted.

Flash glanced at Autumn and then hit Dari on the head with her metal pipe. Dariken yelped and glared at Flash, "What was that for?!"

"Hey, if Harmony were here you would be hurt more than that, so be happy." Flash responded.

Dariken scratched his head, "But, baby sister is..."

Before he could finish, Autumn stepped on his foot, hard. Dariken yelped and hopped around holding his foot after dropping the pandas. Autumn laughed and rubbed the back of her head, "Oops...Was that your foot?"

"YES!" Dariken growled and glared at Autumn.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue out right back, "BABY! BABY! _BABY!_"

"SHUT UP!!!!!" Autumn yelled as she started chasing Dariken while wielding her rubber chicken threateningly.

Thorn walked over to Kurama as he, Flash, and Hiei watched Autumn chasing Dariken. She blinked, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea." Kurama responded.

Hiei cleared his throat, "We've been sitting in this clearing all day. Can we at least walk to a different clearing just so that it'll feel like we did something productive today?"

And they never set foot outside of the clearing again.

**OWARI**


	14. Rabbit Torture

Dream: Hi everyone!

Everyone: … *cricket cricket*

Freckles: Hi everyone! 

Everyone: *loudly* Hi Freckles!

Dream: ;_; waaa…. You don't like me! *cries*

Freckles: *sticks out his tongue* Ha ha!

Dream: *sobs* Well anyway here's chapter 14 which is appropriately titled 'Rabbit Torture'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I cleared my throat, "I'm gonna sing now. Ahem, _this is the song that never ends, cuz it goes on and on my friends! Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because… This is the song that never ends cuz it goes on and o—"_

"Can't you sing something else?" Autumn twitched.

I nodded, "_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes bum bum bum…"_

Everyone sighed and started walking again as I continued, "_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes bum bum bum… I know a song that gets on everybody's kidneys, everybody's kidneys, everybody's kidneys. I know a song that gets on everybody's kidneys and this is how it goes bum bum bum…"_

"Kidneys???" Arielle asked surprised.

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's gall bladder, everybody's gall bladder, everybody's gall bladder. I know a song that gets on everybody's gall bladder and this is how it goes bum bum bum… I know a song that gets on everybody's cantaloupe, everybody's cantaloupe, everybody's cantaloupe. I know a song that gets on everybody's cantaloupe and this is how it goes bum bum bum…"_

Autumn burst out laughing as did Margaret and Mike. Kurama chuckled and Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed. Dariken shook his head before laughing. Thorn did the same. Arielle looked at everyone like they were crazy. So did Jin, Touya, and Hiei. 

Pleased at these reactions I continued, "_I know a song that gets on everybody's Sasquatch, everybody's Sasquatch, everybody's Sasquatch. I know a song that gets on everybody's Sasquatch and this is how it goes bum bum bum…" My singing continued for a while with me substituting in every random object I could think of._

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's penguin, everybody's penguin, everybody's penguin. I know a song that gets on everybody's penguin and this is how it goes bum bum bum… I know a song…"_

_"**Enough! Pick a different song!" **_** Yusuke screamed.**

I thought for a moment,** "_99 bottles of beer on the wall! 99 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall! 98 bottles of beer on the wall! 98 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 97 bottles of beer on the wall!"_**

Time passes…

"_12 bottles of beer on the wall!__ 12 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 11 bottles of beer on the wall! 11 bottles of beer on the wall! 11 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 10 bottles of beer on the wall!"_

"Is anyone else annoyed?" Arielle asked.

"He's only got 10 bottles of beer left, let him finish." Autumn said.

"Why?!? Why must we suffer through such torture?!?" Dariken whined.

"Stop whining and deal with it!" Autumn shoved her hands into her pockets.

"_…take one down pass it around, 7 bottles of beer on the wall! 7 bottles of beer on the wall!"_

Kuwabara clawed at his ears, "I can't take it anymore!"

Yusuke was smiling and whistling. Jin walked over to Yusuke, "Doesn't the singing bother you Urameshi?"

Yusuke didn't answer so, when Margaret deserted Hiei to cling to Jin, he tapped Yusuke's shoulder and asked again, "Doesn't the singing bother you Urameshi?"

Yusuke pulled a piece of cotton out of his ear, "Huh?"

"Ack! You had cotton and you didn't give us any???" Thorn fumed.

Yusuke shrugged, "I only had enough for me."

"_…3 bottles of beer on the wall! 3 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 2 bottles of beer on the wall! 2 bottles of beer on the wall! 2 bottles of beer! Take one down pass it around, 1 bottle of beer on the wall!" _I yawned, "I'm tired of singing."

"**_WHAT?!?_" Autumn glared at me with flames in her eyes, "**_THERE IS NO WAY I SUFFERED THORUGH 98 BOTTLES FOR YOU TO STOP AT 1!!!!_**"**

"Nope, I'm not singing anymore."

"**_WHY YO—_**hey, what's that?" Autumn ran over to a sign in the middle of the road.

"Well, she gets distracted easily." Touya remarked.

"Yup, she's got the attention span of a gnat!" Mike nodded.

I kicked him, "Don't insult my human!"

Autumn was looking at the sign, "Hmm… 'Be kind to signs… OR ELSE! You've been warned. P.S. DO NOT TOUCH THIS SIGN!'" Autumn twitched before reaching out and poking the sign which fell over onto the ground.

"HEY!!!!!! DIDN'T YOU READ THE SIGN??? IT SAID NOT TO TOUCH!" A squeaky voice said from the bushes.

"Autumn can read?" Margaret blinked.

"Yes I can miss I-don't-know-what-1+1-equals."

"Hey! I do too know what 1+1 equals! It equals 24." Margaret nodded.

Everyone turned to stare at her. I scoffed, "Even **_I _**know that 1+1=2"

Autumn poked the sign with her foot. A little creature smaller than me jumped out of the bushes. It had a white body and had two blue mouse ears and a blue tail ending in a pompom. It had big black eyes and two white furred feet. It was holding a mini arrow type thing in its mouth. 

"Aww! Cute!" Autumn reached out to pet it. It poked Autumn's hand with the arrow, "Ouch, stupid thingy that hurt!" Autumn was putting pressure on the spot to stop it from bleeding.

"HA! YOU WILL PAY FOR KNOCKING OVER THAT SIGN!!!! YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE THIS VALLEY ALIVE!" The creature laughed maniacally.

Autumn raised her eyebrow, "Poisoned arrow?"

The creature stopped, "Well, no, actually I was hoping you'd bleed to death…"

"From a tiny little puncture?" Autumn was the one laughing now.

"Shut up! I couldn't find any poison!"

Kurama sighed, "Autumn, please don't touch anything else while we're here unless you know it's safe. If it had been a poisoned arrow, you could have died."

"Aww, Kurama was worried." Thorn said in a sweet tone.

"I think I know what we're here to investigate." Dariken said as he pointed out ahead of us.

There was a mountain with a cave at its base not all that far from us. The cave's mouth was curtained by vines and bushes. An eerie dark aura surrounded the entrance. Beyond the curtain was a dark void. As we approached the cave I could feel the wind beckoning us into the ebon heart of the mountain.

Autumn shivered, "I don't like this…"

The little creature moved closer to me, "Do we have to go in there?"

I turned to look at it, "We? Since when are **_you_** a part of this expedition?"

"Expedition? Damn you Autumn! Even you're rabbit is smarter than me!" Kuwabara yelled.

I looked at Kuwabara, "**_Everything_ is smarter than you Kuwabara."**

My remark caused laughter to erupt among the group. Yusuke pointed at Kuwabara, "You just got insulted by a rabbit!"

Dariken was again looking at the cave, "When I was younger I dared another one of the young kitsune from our village to go into this cave. He never came out. There were so many stories about this cave. No one really knows what's in it."

"I don't want to go in there… I have a bad feeling about it." Autumn shivered again.

"Yeah, I have a bad feeling too." Kuwabara said.

"Let's push Kuwabaka in there. If he dies then we know it's not safe. Plus we'll get rid of him once and for all." Arielle nodded.

"I like that plan." Margaret said.

The little creature spoke, "If you feed it, it will want more!"

"Feed what?" Kurama asked.

"The monster! It lives in there and feeds off of those foolish enough to enter the cave!"

"I've heard that story before. It's an old one. The monster supposedly prefers the blood of young ladies. It isn't true." Dariken said flatly.

"How do you know it's not twue?" The creature asked suddenly reverting to a childish manner of speaking…err…squeaking.

"My sister tested it. She walked down the cave until she came to a bend and stayed there for an entire night." Dariken smiled, "Harmony was never afraid of things like that. I'd say that her only real fear was losing her family. Unfortunately that's just what happened. She stopped responding to the name 'Harmony' after that. She wanted to be called Phantom because she felt like a phantom of her former self."

"So if dere's no monster, what **_is _**in dere?" The little creature asked.

"I said no one knows that, she-who-has-no-name." Dariken replied.

"I do too have a name! It's Chuchu!" The creature said proudly.

"Chuchu? Even you're name is cute!" Autumn smiled at Chuchu.

"My human. Get your own." I glared at Chuchu.

Margaret was clinging to Jin again. He smiled, "I'm starting to like this."

Kuwabara screamed, "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this place, guys. I really don't want to be here…"

"Well that's too bad because you'll be spending the rest of eternity here! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" a familiar sounding voice yelled before everything went dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: o.O funness…

Freckles: Maybe I can get this fic to be 20 chaps long…

Dream: tiredness…

Freckles: Well if this was chap 14 then I have 6 more to go.

Dream: zzzzzzzzzzzz….

Freckles: Well tune in next time! *jumps around all hyper and stuff*


	15. Lost and Found

Freckles: Hello! 

Dream: *wearing an eye patch and fake hook* Yarr! I be a pirate!

Freckles: A pirate? Why?

Dream: … YARR!!!!! MUTINY!!!!!!!!!

Chuchu: *walks in* what's going on?

Dream: 1st mate Freckles be planning a mutiny!

Freckles: o.O;;;

Chuchu: wiiiiiiiiiiiight…..

Dream: YOU! POLLY! WHAT YE BE DOIN' NOT ON ME SHOULDER??? *puts Chuchu on shoulder*

Chuchu: Is this normal for her?

Freckles: Yes, unfortunately, it is.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kuwabara screamed, "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this place, guys. I really don't want to be here…"

"Well that's too bad because you'll all be spending the rest of eternity here! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" a familiar sounding voice yelled before everything went dark.

***

I woke up and looked around. I was in a cave with a rounded ceiling. The only lights were odd glowing pale green crystals embedded in the walls. The chamber walls were made out of light blue crystal that reflected the glow of the green crystals, giving the chamber an eerie look. The ground I stood on was jet black and felt like it might **_be_ made of jet. I could see my reflection in the floor. A hallway was the only way in or out of the chamber. It was similar to the chamber I was in. **

I hopped to the hallway entrance. _Wherever Autumn is I have a better chance of finding her if I go looking for her. Besides, it's no use waiting around here for something to come and get me._

As I took my first steps into the hallway all the crystals stopped glowing. Then, the two closest to me lit up and went out. The two after that lit up and went out. This pattern continued all down the hall and then began to repeat. I hopped tentatively down the hall following the lights.

***

~3rd person P.O.V~

Chuchu lay on the ground in a dimly lit room. The room had silver colored crystals for walls. It also had a jet black stone floor. Pale blue glowing crystals were embedded in the walls. 

Chuchu opened her big black eyes slightly. _What happened? The last thing I remember is a voice and then…_

"Where am I???" Chuchu squeaked in terror as she became fully aware of her surroundings. Her squeak echoed off the walls.

Chuchu spotted a hallway leading out of the room. She stepped over to the hallway and peeked down. It looked like the room she was in only longer. She took a step and immediately the crystals stopped glowing.

"Aw! Come on! That's not fair!!!" She yelled at the crystals. The crystals flickered on and then off. "Please turn on?" The two lights closest to her flickered on and off. Then, the two after that flickered and so on down the hall. 

Chuchu giggled and started chasing after the lights at full speed.

***

Freckles was still following his green lights slowly. They had slowed down to match his pace which he had found extremely unnerving. He had been hopping along for hours it seemed. He could no longer see the spot where he had entered the hall but, in the distance, he could see what appeared to be pale blue flashing lights. He heard laughter echoing in the hallway and froze. After a few minutes of silence he continued. He got to the end of the green lights and the two crystals at the end stayed light while the others went out and stayed out. 

Again he heard laughter and again he froze. His heart was beating so hard that he knew that whatever it was laughing could definitely hear it. He even went so far as to think that his rapid heartbeat was the cause of the creature's laughter. 

He saw a shadow running after the blue lights. The flashing crystals caused its shadow to grow huge and terrifying. Freckles turned from the monster and bolted back the way he had come. The creature tripped on a rock and was propelled into him. They both tumbled over flat onto the stone floor.

"Owie! Chuchu got a booboo!" (A/N: That sounded soooo cute! I just had to put it in!) 

"Chuchu?" Freckles got up and was overjoyed to discover that his "attacker" was indeed the little creature.

"Hiya, Speckles!"

"Freckles. My name is Freckles."

"Okie dokie Speckles!"

Freckles sighed, "Do you know where the others are?"

"Yes! I mean no…"

"Do you know where **_we _are?"**

Chuchu bobbed up and down in her version of a nod. "I have no idea!" she beamed.

Freckles sighed again, "You're even more dense than Autumn."

"I like the pitty flashing lights!"

***

Margaret was wandering around a maze of hallways. There were many dead ends. The maze walls reached the ceiling and were made of black crystal. The floor was also made of black crystal. There were yellow glowing crystals lighting the halls. She soon became aware of a sobbing noise and footsteps. She turned a corner and found herself face to face with Hiei. 

"HIEI!!!!!" her yell echoed off the walls as she hugged him tightly, "I was sooooo scared!"

Arielle looked up from taunting Kuwabara, "Will you keep it quiet, you're ruining the creepy atmosphere." She turned back to Kuwabara, "…and after you die little tiny worms will feast on your body. They'll crawl under your skin and…"

"What's she doing?" Margaret asked Hiei.

"Making the baka cry." Hiei replied flatly.

"Where are the others?" Margaret looked around.

"Yusuke went to try and find a way out of this maze. He's leaving pieces of paper to mark his trail. We haven't seen anyone else yet." Arielle said while Kuwabara curled up into a little ball and started sucking his thumb.

"I hope everyone's ok…" Margaret sighed.

***

Precious and Tundra were following Mike around in a maze of hallways. The very same maze where Margaret, Hiei, Arielle, and Kuwabara were. The walls blocked any sound from traveling. They had been wandering for what seemed like an eternity and had passed the same intersection eight times.

"We should try following those little pieces of paper. They might lead us to someone." Tundra suggested.

"I guess." Mike shrugged.

They were walking for only a few minutes when they bumped into Yusuke.

"Hey guys! I found the way out of this maze! Follow the pieces of paper. I'll go get the others." Yusuke then rushed back.

A while later Arielle, Mike, Margaret, Yusuke, Tundra, Precious, Kuwabara, and Hiei were gathered at the exit of the maze. The room beyond was full of illusions. It had walkways going in every direction including up and down. 

Precious sighed, "So now what?"

"I have no idea." Yusuke shrugged.

"Follow me." Hiei started walking away.

"Why?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'll use my Jagan to find the right path."

"Why the hell didn't you do that in the maze?!?" Yusuke yelled.

"It was amusing to watch you bang into walls."

The group started following Hiei.

***

Jin and Touya were fighting a large crystal monster. It was made of green crystals with red crystals for eyes. It looked like a giant serpent and none of their attacks were working on it. The monster had knocked Jin away and had cornered Touya. It was about to eat him when a bolt of black lightning with golden fire swirling around it hit the creature. It shattered.

"You two alright?" Dariken asked as he stepped forward followed closely by Thorn.

"I guess so. Thank you." Touya said to both of them.

"That was good timing." Jin said.

"Have either of you seen the others?" Thorn asked worriedly.

"No." Touya said simply.

Dariken uttered a curse under his breath. He turned and started walking quickly back down the hallway they had come from. Thorn, Jin, and Touya followed him. They walked for a long time down the dimly lit blood red hallway. They then found themselves in a room with paths all over the place, even above their heads.

"What the hell…?" Dariken said what they were all thinking.

"Hey! What're you guys doing on the ceiling?" A voice asked from above. It was Yusuke.

"I'd like to ask you the same question." Dariken called back.

The two groups made their way to the same spot. Dariken counted who was there, "So we're only missing Autumn, Kurama, Freckles, and Chuchu."

***

Kurama was running from a giant lizard like thing made of orange crystal. His Rose Whip hadn't been able to cut it so he had fled down the sea-green walled hallway. He was so preoccupied with running that he didn't notice the drop ahead of him until he was falling down it. He fell onto a ledge and was knocked unconscious.

***

Autumn was sitting looking around. She had woken up to find herself in a large room with aqua colored crystals lighting the golden walled room. In the corner across from her was a small lake with a waterfall draining out of a large crack in the wall into it. She hadn't moved at all since waking up. Mostly because of these annoying little voices that were echoing around the room.

'_Why aren't you moving?'_

_'Your boyfriend's in trouble. Go to him.'_

_'What are you waiting for?'_

_'Your rabbit is dead. You won't see him again.'_

_'It's your fault for bringing him along. You killed him.'_

_'Your boyfriend's dead too. You killed both of them.'_

Autumn put her hands over her ears and tried to choke back the sobs building in her throat. She knew very well that the voices, whatever they were, could be telling her lies. Of course there was always the chance that they weren't lying. She had long since given up telling them that Kurama was not her boyfriend. She heard a loud crashing noise coming from somewhere nearby and decided to investigate.

As soon as she took a step into the hallway the crystals stopped glowing. She ran her hand along the wall until she found a crystal. Pulling it out of the wall was easier than she had expected. The crystal began to glow again in her hand. She began walking down the hall toward the noise's source.

_'Where are you going?'_

_'Why are you walking away from us?'_

_'…I like cantaloupe…'_

_'Yeah, me too.'___

_'it's so delicious.'_

"Shut up." Autumn said coldly.

***

Freckles and Chuchu were sitting and thinking of ways to get out of the hallway and find the others.

"Why don't we push on the wall until we find a secwet passage?" Chuchu suggested.

Freckles was getting tired of her childish solutions. "What? You think that by pushing on the wall like this," he pushed the wall of the hallway with his front paws, "a secret passage will just open? That's absurd! That's absolutely abs…"

The wall started to shake and a passage just big enough for them to fit through opened up. Chuchu jumped up and down excitedly.

Freckles gaped at the opening, "Well whaddya know, it worked!"

They both quickly ran through the passage and found themselves in a room with walls made of sea-green crystal. It was lit by silver crystals and had two other entrances and a large drop occupying the opposite half of the room. Lying at the side of the drop was a rose.

"Hey! That's Kurama's rose!" Freckles ran over to smell it. 

"And that's Kuwama!" Chuchu said looking down the drop at the unconscious Kurama.

Footsteps were echoing from one of the hallways. Freckles and Chuchu turned to see a golden glow coming from around a bend in that hallway. They both froze with fear as the footsteps drew closer. The creature was then standing before them the golden glowing crystal giving it a frightening appearance.

Freckles and Chuchu both started screaming. The figure let go of the crystal and then caught it again. "Freckles! Chuchu! Calm down! It's me Autumn!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: Why ye be endin' the story thar?

Freckles: Because we want to leave the readers in suspense.

Chuchu: Yeah, Speckles knows what he's doing.

Freckles: IT'S FRECKLES!!!!! FRECKLES!!!!!

Chuchu: o.o Why you so mad Speckles?

Freckles: u.u;;; o I give up!


	16. A secret revealed

Dream: Well hello there everyone!

Freckles: What no costume today?

Dream: … *puts on a giant squirrel costume* Better?

Freckles: Much.

Dream: ^_^ 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Freckles and Chuchu both started screaming. The figure let go of the crystal and then caught it again. "Freckles! Chuchu! Calm down! It's me Autumn!"

"Autumn!" Freckles ran over and was quickly picked up and hugged. 

Autumn knelt down and set the glowing crystal aside. She then put Freckles down and looked around. She saw the rose and frowned, "Where's Kurama?"

Freckles pointed to the drop. Autumn looked over the edge now extremely worried. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing. She then looked around for any way to get him to safety. Her eyes fell onto the rose.

"It's the only way…" she mumbled before picking it up, "I hope this works…"

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the rose. When she opened her eyes she was holding a rose whip. Freckles and Chuchu gasped. She tied one end of the whip around a crystal sticking up from the floor. She then held the other end tightly and hopped over the side of the drop. She passed right by the ledge Kurama was on and found herself hanging above complete darkness. She grumbled before focusing her energy into making the whip retract a bit. Once she was on the ledge with Kurama she wrapped the end of the whip around her waist and pulled Kurama close. Then she focused and the whip retracted fully.

Some time passes…

Kurama opened his eyes to see two black ovals looking down at him. He sat up quickly sending the little white creature rolling into a wall. A wave of pain shot through his right arm. 

Chuchu stood back up, "Speckles! He's awake!" 

"For the last time, my name is Freckles! Not Speckles!" The frustrated rabbit said as he hopped over. 

"Freckles?" Kurama asked before perking up and looking around, "Where's Autumn?"

"Right here." Autumn knelt down and put the bowls she was carrying down next to Kurama. She took his right arm and put a bit of pressure on it. He winced. She then took a piece of wet fabric out of the larger bowl and wrapped it around his arm where it hurt the most. She handed him the smaller bowl, "Drink this."

"What is it?" Kurama looked down into the bowl at the golden liquid, "Is it… glowing?"

"Yup! I took water from that waterfall and crushed one of those glowing crystals in it." Autumn smiled.

Kurama took a sip of the mixture. It tasted surprisingly sweet. He drank the rest before turning to look at Autumn. "Where are we?"

"Inside that mountain we were looking at." Autumn took the bowl from him and put it aside, "Your arm should be fully healed in a few minutes." 

"How did you know how to do that?" 

"Do…what?" Autumn laughed nervously.

Kurama pointed at his arm and the two bowls, "That."

"Oh…umm...I…have to clean this bowl!" Autumn picked up the smaller bowl and walked over to the lake to clean it.

Kurama sat silently watching her. _Why did she avoid my question? _He walked over and sat down beside her. She fidgeted a bit. He broke the silence by asking the question that had been gnawing at his mind for what seemed like forever, "Are you Phantom Harmony?"

Autumn dropped the bowl in surprise, "Wh…What?"

"Are you Phantom Harmony living as a human?"

Autumn stared blankly at him for a moment before lowering her gaze to the floor, "…was it really that obvious?"

"Only if you pay attention to detail."

Freckles hopped over to Autumn followed by Chuchu. Chuchu jumped in the water to fetch the floating away bowl while Freckles sat next to Autumn protectively, "Don't tell anyone!"

"You figured it out too?" Autumn sighed, "I really slipped up this time. If only Dariken hadn't shown up!"

"This time?" Kurama raised his eyebrows.

"You think this is my first time living life as another creature?"

"Why would you want to?"

"To learn… about life… and about myself... I think…"

"You think?"

Autumn laughed and rubbed the back of her head, "I blocked my memories. I did a sloppy job, though; I'm remembering bits and pieces through dreams and stuff."

"I see…" Kurama tested his arm and found that it was fully healed. He removed the wrap and handed it to Autumn, "Thank you… You healed my arm like that the first time we met…"

Autumn smiled, "First time we met? I guess that must be one of my blocked memories… Oh! Here you dropped this." Autumn handed him his rose. They sat silent for a minute, neither knowing what to say. 

"AIEEEEE! Speckles, I can't see!" Chuchu's voice said from underneath the bowl she had fetched.

"FRECKLES!!!! MY NAME IS FRECKLES!!!"

Autumn giggled and took the bowl off of Chuchu, "Peek-a-boo."

Chuchu giggled. Freckles sighed before turning to Autumn, "Shouldn't we try to find the others?"

"Yeah that would probably be the smart thing to do." Autumn turned to Kurama, "Listen, you can't tell anyone about me being Phantom. It's too risky. Especially now that the crystal has fallen into the wrong hands. There's a good reason that I disappeared…. A good reason that has absolutely nothing to do with this, not that I remember it anyway…I'm just gonna be quiet now…" 

Kurama laughed. He couldn't help it. "I won't tell anyone. Now let's go find the others."

Autumn smiled and gathered her things up. Freckles followed her every move like a furry little shadow and Chuchu started running in circles chasing her tail. Autumn finished packing and walked over to the hallway. She pulled another glowing crystal out of the wall. She then started to walk down the hall.

"Wait! Let me go first!" Kurama called out.

"Why?" Autumn looked over her shoulder.

"So I can…"

"…protect me?" Autumn finished for him.

"Well yes."

Autumn laughed, "I appreciate your concern but I can take care of myself. Besides, if something is going to attack us it'll attack from the back."

They walked in silence for a moment. Kurama finally spoke up, "Does Dariken know?"

"Yeah, why do you think he's been calling me little sister? He said he was going to call me baby sister like he used to but I…convinced him it was in his best interest not to."

"Does he hate me?"

"He always hated Youko. Said that kitsune were getting a bad rep. Someone even tried to pass our cousin off for you. I took care of that."

"…do you hate me?"

Autumn stopped and turned to face Kurama. She put her hands on her hips.

Kurama smiled, "Well I guess that was a stupid question."

"Ya think?" Autumn turned back to lead the way and banged into someone. The two figures fell backwards away from each other.

"Ow…" the stranger said.

Autumn raised the crystal to see who it was. It was Botan. Behind her a ways off was Koenma in his teenage form. Autumn raised her eyebrows, "I don't think I wanna know what you two were doing here alone…in the dark…"

Botan hit Autumn's head lightly, "That's sick!"

"Well can ya blame me for thinking it?"

Kurama walked over as Autumn stood up. Botan looked at the two of them, "And what were the two of **_you_** doing here in the dark alone?"

"We weren't alone. They were with us." Autumn pointed to Freckles and Chuchu.

"Hey! It's the oar lady! Where's the oar? I wanna eat it!" Freckles walked in a circle around Botan.

"The rabbit can talk?" Koenma asked walking over to stand next to Botan.

"Why that man have a pacififer?" Chuchu piped up in her squeaky voice.

"It's called a pacifier. Pass-i-fi-er!" Freckles pointed out.

"Ok Speckles!" Chuchu started chasing her tail.

"FRECKLES!!!!!!! MY NAME IS FRECKLES!!!!!"

"Ok Speckles!"

"Where're Yusuke and the others?" Botan asked.

"They went Kaboom." Autumn said for lack of anything else to say.

"We don't know where they are." Kurama clarified.

Autumn nodded and made an exploding gesture with her hands, "Boom."

"Autumn, now's not the time to act stupid." Freckles piped up.

"I was imitating Teresa and Heather. Are you calling them stupid?" Autumn narrowed her eyes.

Freckles sighed, "Your friends are crazy."

"You're just realizing this now?" Autumn thought for a moment, "My only sane friend is Felicia. If she were here she'd tell me that I'm delusional, that none of this is real and that any minute now I'd wake up from this dream."

"…but your not dreaming." Freckles pointed out.

"Can we get back to an important subject now?" Botan asked.

"I have a question. Who's Nuala and why is she aiding us in finding the crystal?" Autumn's voice was focused (a.n: focused? Me???) and thoughtful.

"She came into my office the day I discovered that the crystal was missing and told me that she could help. She then said that she had foreseen the theft of the crystal but hadn't been able to get to my office on time." Koenma said.

_And you believed that???  Spirit World is being run by an idiot! _Autumn wanted to yell but instead said, "I see…"

Botan saw the doubt in Autumn's eyes. (a.n: damn mood ring eyes!) "She had helped us before you see. When Phantom Harmony first brought the crystal to the vault. Nuala had predicted it was in danger and said that Phantom should bring her to the crystal's shrine since only a Mist Mountain kitsune or someone under one's supervision can enter that area. Phantom returned with the crystal and said only that it had indeed been in danger. She told us only that she and Nuala had gone separate ways because the reward Nuala wanted was too far out of her reach."

_Fools! _Autumn thought.

Botan continued, "Phantom was always so quiet. I mean sure she lost practically her entire family but 600 years was a long time to grieve. I wonder where she is right now…"

_Closer then you might think._ Kurama mused silently. Aloud he asked, "Why are you here?"

"We got transported here somehow. First we lost track of all of you and then everything went black. When we woke up we were here." Koenma said. He then looked Autumn over and flexed his arm muscle, "How bout a date?"

"..." Autumn blinked a few times before bursting out laughing. 

"STOP LAUGHING! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Koenma yelled.

"Ok this is not the time to fool around." Autumn said.

"I wasn't fooling around!" Koenma yelled before taking a step toward Autumn, "Will you go out with me?"

"…get away from me…Besides, isn't that against some rule or something?" 

Koenma sighed, "That's what Phantom said when I asked her. She said she wasn't in the mood to date."

_That was the only nice thing I could think of to say. What I was really thinking was that I didn__'__t want to date a stuck up brat who, at the time, didn_'___t know which hand was his right and which hand was his left. That and the pacifier creeps me out. Autumn said telepathically to Kurama, who had to clasp his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing._

Botan sighed, "Koenma, Autumn is head over heels in love with Kurama."

"I AM NOT!!!!" Autumn blushed bright red, "Well, not head over heels in love…"

"We really should try to find the others." Kurama pointed out.

"Mommy, I wanna go home!" Freckles pawed at Autumn's leg.

Autumn was startled, "D-Did you just call me Mommy???"

I cocked my head to the side, "Is that bad?"

"No, just a little…awkward…" Autumn scratched her head.

Chuchu suddenly ran into the wall and fell through. Autumn raised an eyebrow, "Well that's normal."

"No it isn't." Koenma said.

"I was being sarcastic." Autumn pointed out before walking over to the wall that Chuchu had gone through.

"Don't touch it! We don't know what will happen, you could get hurt!" Kurama reached out toward Autumn. 

She turned to look at him, "I appreciate your concern but I don't want to leave Chuchu alone out there. I'm going, follow if you want." She then walked through the wall followed by Freckles.

Botan walked over to Kurama, "Awfully confident for a human in one of the most dangerous places in Makai, isn't she?"

Kurama sighed, "Yes, she is. Well we'd better follow her before she gets into trouble."

Kurama, Botan, and Koenma walked through the wall and into the darkness beyond.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: you're ending it there?

Freckles: Yeah.

Dream: why isn't it in your point of view anymore?

Freckles: 'cuz there's stuff happening that needs to be told from 3rd person P.O.V

Dream: wh—

Freckles: here's a lollipop, go sit in a corner and be quiet. 

Dream: YAY! LOLLIPOP!!!!! *goes and sits in a corner*


	17. A kiss is worth a thousand cheese monkey

Dream: Welcome to chappie 17! 

Freckles: Wow! I didn't think it would make it past the first chapter!

Dream: yeah, neither did I.

Freckles: The story's probably gonna end with chap. 20

Dream: Only three more after this one. Then I'll start working on the sequel! 

Freckles: …yay?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama sighed, "Yes, she is. Well we'd better follow her before she gets into trouble."

Kurama, Botan, and Koenma walked through the wall and into the darkness beyond. For a split second they were floating in the void that seemed to surround the mountain. The darkness then cleared and they found themselves standing in a room whose walls were made of prism-like crystals. There was a large white glowing crystal hanging from the ceiling. The light from that crystal was hitting the walls and being reflected back in all the colors of the rainbow.

There was another underground waterfall in this room which poured into a crystal pool. The pool was circular in shape and the hand-carved sides reached about a foot above the ground. The pool's sides were made of light blue crystal. The spray from the waterfall caught the rainbow lights and gave the room the appearance of being shrouded in a rainbow sheet.

Autumn was standing in front of the pool. She was watching the waterfall while Freckles chased Chuchu around the room. She had her back to the others when they arrived.

Botan smiled as she looked around, "This place is so beautiful!!!"

Autumn started at Botan's voice and turned around quickly, "When did you three get here?"

"Just now. What was so interesting that you didn't notice that we were here?" Kurama asked as he walked over to stand next to Autumn.

"It was nothing…" She turned back to look at the waterfall and Kurama did the same.

"What a cute couple you two make!" Botan laughed.

Autumn sighed, "I was angry about getting involved in this whole thing. Seeing this place makes it all worth it." Autumn closed her eyes, "This place is so serene. I don't want to leave and return to the chaos of life…" Autumn's eyes snapped open when she realized what she had just said.

The others were feeling similarly to Autumn. Koenma sighed happily, "I don't want to have to go back to my responsibilities. I'll stay here for ever and ever…"

"I'm tired of running errands for Koenma. I'll stay here…" Botan said.

Autumn looked around at everyone. Even Kurama had a relaxed expression on his face. _The only ones that aren__'__t affected are Freckles and Chuchu... Well, duh! They don_'___t have anything to be stressed out about! Autumn thought._

Botan and Koenma had sunk to the floor smiling happily. Freckles and Chuchu were poking at them. Kurama was smiling too. Autumn felt a pull at her mind but she ignored it. She shook Kurama but he wouldn't wake up from his delirium. She tried poking him and pinching his arm. Nothing worked.

(Warning: Autumn is going to have a conversation with herself!)_ What do I do now??? Autumn thought. 'Remember that whole Sleeping Beauty story?' _yeah, what about it? _'Well, Sleeping Beauty woke up with a kiss on the lips right?' __yeah__…**_HELL NO!!!!! NOT A CHANCE!!!!!_**__ 'Why not? It's like Botan said, you're head over heels in love with the guy!' __I AM NOT! 'You can't lie to me! I'm your inner voice thing!' _…___but_…___ _'___Just do it!_' (_End craziness)_

With that Autumn looked down at Kurama who was now sitting on the floor smiling. Autumn sighed and kneeled down. She sighed again and kissed Kurama on the lips. When he started to stir Autumn quickly stood up and turned away from him hoping he hadn't realized she'd kissed him.

"What happened?" Kurama rubbed his head.

Autumn looked down at her reflection. _Still blushing! Hope he doesn__'__t notice_…____

"Autumn! You got Kurama to wake up! How?" Freckles hopped over with Chuchu following like a shadow.

_Damn! Why__'__d Freckles have to ask that??? Autumn whined mentally. "Umm…"_

"Was I asleep?" Kurama was confused. _Why is she blushing like that? I could have sworn I felt her kiss me but it could have been a dream__…___

"Yea, this mist seems to be putting some sort of spell on everyone. See?" Autumn pointed at Koenma and Botan.

"I…love…you…Koenma…" Botan whispered in her dream-like state.

"How sweet…" Autumn said.

Kurama looked from Botan to Koenma, "How do we wake them up?"

"Uhh…" Autumn blushed again remembering how she had woken Kurama up.

"I know! I know! I saw how Autumn woke Kuwama up!" Chuchu was jumping up and down.

"How?" Freckles asked the little critter.

Autumn, who was standing behind Kurama, started making frantic gestures trying to get Chuchu to be quiet. Chuchu didn't notice, "She kissed him! Wight on the lips!"

Autumn groaned, "Thanks a lot Chuchu!"

"You Welcome!" Chuchu grinned not understanding the sarcasm.

"You…did?" Kurama was stunned and he turned to look at Autumn.

She was blushing madly, "Well you see…I…and you…nothing was working and…my inner voice thingy said…and umm…please don't be mad!" Autumn clasped her hands together and looked up at him with a begging face.

Kurama blinked, "Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm anything but mad! I thought the kiss was a dream! I'm actually quite happy that it wasn't. Now if only I can find a way to get another kiss…" He paused and looked at Autumn.

"Lemme guess, I didn't hear that last part?"

"Right." Kurama and Autumn both started laughing out of embarrassment.

"What going on?" Chuchu blinked.

"I have no idea…" Freckles also blinked.

"Hey! Wha bout peppy lady and pacififer boy?" Chuchu piped up.

"Oh! Umm…heh…I have an idea…" Autumn smiled evilly.

"Why am I suddenly afraid?" Freckles asked.

Autumn walked over to Botan and Koenma. She moved them both closer to each other. She took the pacifier from Koenma's mouth and put it in his hand. She then took both their heads and pushed them together so that they were kissing. Botan and Koenma started to stir. Autumn walked back over to Kurama and watched as Botan and Koenma opened their eyes to see that they were kissing. They both turned bright red and quickly turned away.

Autumn and Freckles were laughing. Kurama smiled and Chuchu stood there confused. Botan and Koenma stood up quickly and stepped away from each other. 

"What happened?" Koenma asked.

"You, Botan, and Kurama fell into trances and Autumn figured out that the only way to make you wake up was a kiss. She made you and Botan kiss. You should've seen your faces!" Freckles laughed.

Botan's glare was replaced with a sly grin, "So, Autumn, did you enjoy kissing Kurama?"

It was Autumn's turn to glare. Her eyes then flashed with amusement, "Botan, you were mumbling things about a certain someone while you slept…"

"Don't you dare say another word!" Botan yelled, blushing.

"Why not?" Autumn asked innocently.

"I'll tell Thorn that you kissed Kurama!" Botan threatened.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!!!!! I won't tell! I won't! Please don't tell Thorn!" Autumn pleaded.

"Would it really be that bad for Thorn to find out?" Kurama asked.

"Of course! She'd never let me hear the end of it! It would be terrible!"

"Hey, if this mist is what made you peoplez fall into a twance shouldn't we leave?" Chuchu asked.

Everyone stared at her blankly then nodded and walked down the hallway out. The hallway's crystals did the same as the others. Kurama took the crystal from Autumn and was leading the way with Autumn close behind. Botan and Koenma were doing their best to avoid each other. Freckles was walking next to Autumn and Chuchu was running around yelling 'VROOM'

"Am I the only one who's bored?" Autumn asked after a while of walking.

"I could sing a song." Freckles suggested.

"Oh that would be cute!" Botan said.

"NO!!!!! DON'T SING!!!!" Kurama and Autumn said at the same time.

"Are you still made about the whole 98 bottles of beer thing?" Freckles asked.

Autumn blinked, "…OH YEAH! THAT WAS SO ANNOYING!!!"

***

"So we're only missing Autumn, Kurama, Freckles, and Chuchu." Dariken said after counting who was in the group.

"I hope Autumn's ok. She's the only human who I consider to be a good friend." Thorn said.

"Maybe fox boy can pick up their scent." Yusuke said.

Dariken growled, "We were all sent to different parts of the mountain. There won't **_be_ a scent for me to follow."**

"I think you know more about this mess than you're telling us." Thorn crossed her arms.

"That doesn't matter right now. We have to find Autumn." Dariken thought for a moment, "Hiei, can you find them?"

"No. I've already tried to locate Kurama. Something's getting in the way." 

"Damn. Well then we'll have to pick a path randomly and hope we find them."

"I can do that!" Margaret said. She looked around and pointed, "That one!"

"Well, it's worth a shot." Yusuke shrugged. Dariken was already walking down that path. The others followed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: Well that was a fun chapter.

Freckles: I know, wasn't it?

Dream: CHEESE MONKEYS!!!!!!!!

Freckles: _…you really are insane…_

Dream: The mongoose goes moo! …actually I usually only act insane/stupid to make people laugh. Laughter is good for the soul…

Freckles: Oh yeah, well what about the time you walked into a door? Was that to make someone laugh?

Dream: No that was me sleepwalking…

Freckles: But you were wide awake…

Dream: shh… you don't know that.

Freckles: o.O


	18. A dream of the past

Dream: Hallo and welcome to chapter 18 of the story whose title I don't feel like saying!

Freckles: o.o;;;

Dream: *gets depressed* Before you read the story I'd like to say a few words… THANKSGIVING IS EVIL!!!!!! FREE THE TURKEYS!!!!!! HOW MANY MORE BIRDS HAVE TO DIE FOR THE SAKE OF THIS STUPID HOLIDAY??? I MEAN SURE THEY'RE STUPID BUT BIRDS HAVE FEELINGS TOO! FREEDOM TO THE TURKEYS!!!! *pants*

Freckles: Feel better now?

Dream: yes, yes I do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Well, it's worth a shot." Yusuke shrugged. Dariken was already walking down that path. The others followed.

"These crystals are really annoying." Margaret said when the glowing crystals stopped glowing and started flashing on and off to match the group's pace.

"There has to be a way to make them stay on… Dariken, do you know how?" Thorn turned to the kitsune walking next to her.

"No." He replied flatly.

Thorn blinked, "You okay?"

"No." 

"You wanna talk about what's bothering you?"

"No."

"Can you say anything else besides 'no'?" Thorn's eye twitched.

"No."

"That's it! I'VE HAD IT!" Thorn grabbed Dariken's collar and pushed him up against the wall, "What the hell is your problem???"

"**_My_** problem? What's **_your_** problem??? Leave me alone!" 

"I want to know what you're so worried about!"

"Isn't it obvious? Autumn's alone in this mountain and for all we know she could be dead!"

"Why do you care so much about Autumn anyway? What does she mean to you???"

"I don't have to answer that." Dariken pushed Thorn away from him and turned to walk away.

Thorn's eyes flashed with anger as she charged at Dariken with her claws ready to strike. He sidestepped her charge and pushed her into the cave wall. She recovered and sent a ball of black lightening at him. Dariken countered her attack with a ball of golden foxfire. The two balls (stop thinking dirty) collided and exploded. Thorn and Dariken rushed at each other through the smoke and started punching and kicking each other. They were moving too fast for the humans too see and even Hiei, Jin, and Touya were having trouble watching. 

They finally stopped and stood apart from each other. They were out of breath. Dariken had a few cuts and scrapes but for the most part wasn't injured. One of Thorn's wings was torn. She had many cuts and a gash on her left arm which she was holding tightly to stop the bleeding. She was having trouble focusing and looked like she was going to pass out. 

Dariken looked at Thorn sadly, _I didn__'__t mean to hurt her that bad__…__ he thought. He sighed, "You should've known better than to attack me." _

"Shut up!" Thorn yelled with a shaky voice. She took a step toward him as if she would attack again.

Dariken's ear twitched in annoyance as he saw her walking shakily toward him. She stumbled and Dariken caught her. He picked her up and started walking down the hall again.

"HEY!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?" Thorn yelled but didn't struggle to get away.

"Well that was…odd…" Arielle said before she and the others started to follow.

Thorn sighed happily and rested her head against Dariken's chest. He smiled, "Having fun?"

"I'm sorry I attacked you…It's just…I feel like there's something you're hiding from me…" Thorn whispered.

Dariken frowned, "There is, but you'll all find out soon enough. I'm sorry I hurt you Thorn…Thorn?" He looked down to see that Thorn had fallen asleep.

***

Autumn and Kurama were arguing about who should lead the way. Botan and Koenma had started talking about random things. Chuchu was talking to Freckles about something he didn't understand. The end of the hallway came into view. The room they stepped into was dark. Freckles and Chuchu hid behind Autumn fearfully. Kurama held the crystal up to look around. 

They were standing on a ledge made of black crystal. The room's walls were black and there were no glowing crystals. There were two skinny crystal tracks coming from the ledge. Sitting on the tracks was a medium sized crystal thing. It was made of dark blue crystal. It had walls that were a few feet high and a thick bottom that the tracks went through. There was a door on one side of the car. In the center of it was a raised crystal platform with a hole in it.

"What is it?" Botan asked looking at the car.

"Maybe it's some sort of mine cart… Let's get on and see where it goes!" Koenma said.

"What if it eats us???" Chuchu whined.

"It won't eat us, it isn't alive!" Freckles pointed out.

"What do you think?" Kurama asked Autumn.

"Well what choice do we have?" She said before going over to the car. 

Everyone got in the car and sat down. When the car didn't move, Chuchu looked around, "Why it not moving?"

"Kurama, give me the crystal." Autumn held out her hand. Kurama gave her the glowing crystal and she put it in the hole of the platform. The platform folded up around the crystal and grew taller. The crystal glowed brighter and the car began to move. 

"How did you know that that was how to start the car?" Botan asked Autumn.

Autumn blinked, "Uhh…I didn't, I just guessed…" 

Kurama smiled, "Well I guess now we just sit back and wait…"

Freckles plopped himself down next to Autumn and fell asleep. Chuchu curled up next to him and also fell asleep. Autumn smiled but then grew thoughtful, "I wonder how long we've been down here. My cell isn't working so I don't know what time it is…"

"It must have been at least a few hours…" Kurama said.

Autumn yawned, "Yeah." She failed miserably in her attempts to stay awake and was soon fast asleep with her head resting on Kurama's shoulder.

"Aww…how cute!" Botan cooed from behind them.

Kurama smiled and wrapped his arm around Autumn making Botan say more things about them being a cute couple.

~*~Autumn's Dream:

It was a bright spring afternoon. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There were small demon beasts in love and seeking love all over the Makai forest. The whole forest had a happy feeling to it and it was making Phantom sick to her stomach. 

_What__'__s the point of loving someone if you only wind up losing them in the end? Phantom thought. She had taken refuge under a tree near a river. She was watching the water and thinking, as she often did, of her sister, Melody. _

Suddenly a loud explosion shattered the serenity of the forest. Phantom got up quickly and listened. She heard shouts and ran quietly to the spot where the sounds were coming from. A gang of demon bounty hunters were pointing off into the forest and yelling at each other. Phantom turned and ran in the direction they were pointing without them knowing that she had ever been there. 

After running for a minute or so Phantom saw a figure walking shakily away holding its arm. She slowed her pace and watched the figure curiously. It was a tall male kitsune. He had silver hair, silver fox ears, and a silver tail. His white clothes were stained with the blood from the injury on his left arm. He had a bag tied around his waist that appeared to be full of gems. 

Phantom was overcome with pity as she watched the stranger stumble and fall. He got back up again and continued walking. Phantom asked a flock of nearby demon birds to keep the bounty hunters away. She then went quietly over and started walking behind the stranger.

He became suddenly aware of her presence when she cleared her throat. He turned quickly to face her with untrusting golden eyes, "Who the hell are you?" 

Phantom smiled but didn't answer. Instead she walked past him and said without turning around, "My house is just across the river, you can hide in it until those bounty hunters give up." 

The stranger raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"

"Does it matter who I am? I'm offering you shelter, that should be all that matters."

Phantom started walking away at a slow pace so that the injured stranger could keep up. They walked in silence until they reached the house. Once inside the stranger slumped down into a chair and sighed. Phantom went to fetch the bag where she kept her healing things. She came back and sat in a chair opposite from her guest while looking through the bag's contents.

"Why did you help me?" The stranger asked as he studied Phantom curiously.

Phantom's blue grey eyes lit up with amusement, "I wasn't aware that I needed a reason in order to help someone."

"Do you even know who I am?"

"No."

"You wouldn't have helped me if you knew who I am."

"And you wouldn't have trusted me if you knew who **_I_** am."

The stranger sighed, "Aren't you even going to ask why those bounty hunters were after me?"

"Should I?"

He sighed again, "You're not going to tell me who you are, are you?"

"No."

"Fine, I'll tell you who I am. I'm Youko Kurama, the legendary bandit."

Phantom put down her bag and looked at Youko, "So, I finally get to meet the guy who makes my brother so angry."

"You aren't afraid?"

"Should I be?"

Youko blinked, "I guess not…" 

Phantom and Youko sat quiet for a moment looking at each other. Phantom smiled, "You really want to know who I am, don't you?"

Youko nodded. Phantom got up and walked into another room. She came back with two bowls of water and a rag. She put the stuff on the table between them and reached into her bag. She took out a golden glowing crystal and crushed it into the water of each bowl making sure that more was in the smaller bowl. She then soaked the rag in the water of the larger bowl and held it out to Youko.

"Wrap this around your wound." 

"Why?"

"Just do it." 

Youko did as Phantom said and then looked at her questioningly. She held the smaller bowl out to him, "Drink this."

He looked down at the glowing water, "Will it kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now." Phantom smiled at him.

Youko drank the sweet tasting water and looked back at Phantom who had returned to her seat. "So…who are you?" he asked.

Phantom sighed, "Well, if you really want to know… My name is Phantom Harmony a.k.a the Black Angel."

Youko's eyes grew wide in shock and fear. He grew tense, "Are you going to turn me in?"

Phantom shook her head, "Why would I? You've done nothing to harm me."

"There's a reward…" 

"I don't care about such petty things." 

Youko still was tense. Phantom sighed and stood up, "I knew you wouldn't trust me…" She then took the bowls out of the room to clean them.

Youko stared blankly at the hallway that Phantom had gone down. His arm didn't hurt anymore so he looked under the rag and was amazed to see that it was fully healed. There wasn't even a scar. He took off the rag and sat thinking for a moment.

Phantom was watching him through a shuttered window that connected the kitchen to the room he was in. _I wonder if he_'___ll run away_…_She thought._

He sat for a moment longer before getting up. He started walking down the hall to where Phantom was. He walked in to see her putting the bowls away. 

"Do you live here alone?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"Isn't it kind of…big for one person?"

"Koenma insisted that I needed a place to live. I think the little brat has a crush on me." Phantom said with distaste as she turned to look at him.

"I can see why he would." Youko smiled at her.

Phantom blushed and turned away, "You hungry?" 

"Yes."

The two drank some tea and had dinner. They talked the whole time.

"It's dark. There's a guest bedroom if you want to spend the night."

"What, I can't share your room?"

"Pervert."

Youko laughed as Phantom walked off down the hall. 

When Phantom woke up the next morning there was a necklace that had a ruby pendant in the shape of a rose on the table next to her bed. When she got up to look around she discovered that Youko was gone. 

~*~End Dream~*~

Autumn opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She was still on the crystal car thing. She had her head resting on Kurama's shoulder and she was shocked to realize that he had his arm around her.

"Did you sleep well?" Kurama asked softly and smiled down at her. 

She smiled back, "Yeah."

She sat up and stretched. She then noticed that Koenma and Botan were sleeping in the back and Freckles and Chuchu were sleeping next to her. She smiled when she remembered her dream.

"What are you so happy about?" Kurama asked.

"I had a dream."

"About what?"

"The first time we met."

Kurama smiled, "So you remember?"

"Yup."

Kurama put his arm around her again, "I missed you my dear friend."

"Dear friend? We only knew each other for a few hours. Ah well, I missed you too."

They sat silent for a while until the car came to an abrupt stop at another ledge. The stop shook everyone awake. Koenma and Botan looked around curiously. 

Freckles yawned, "Should we get off?"

"Yep." Autumn said before getting up and opening the door.

Kurama followed her out after taking the glowing crystal out of the platform. The hallway leading out had crimson colored walls. The glowing green crystals stopped glowing while they walked. The group walked in silence. Suddenly the echoes of a fight far away down the hall broke the silence.

"Do you hear that?" Autumn stopped walking to listen.

"Sounds like a fight…" Kurama said.

"Maybe it's the others…" Freckles said hopefully. 

"Maybe." Autumn said. They continued to walk in silence as the sounds faded.

***

Dariken walked silently as he thought. _Baby sister__…__ Please be okay__…___

Margaret yawned, "Uh oh, I'm falling asleep… I know what to do!" She pulled a few pixie sticks out of her pocket and downed them quickly.

"NUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!" Mike yelled when he saw that Margaret was eating pixie sticks.

Margaret smiled, "Sugar is good for the soul, that it is."

"Kenshin's cool." Arielle said.

Margaret twitched before starting to laugh maniacally. Everyone stopped walking to look at her. Jin reached out a hand to her, "Are you okay…?"

"WAFFLES WILL RULE THE EARTH AND I WILL RULE THE WAFFLES!!!!!!!!!!" Margaret yelled before continuing to laugh maniacally.

Thorn stirred in Dariken's arms. He hissed at Margaret, "Be quiet human. You're disturbing Thorn's sleep."

Margaret blinked, "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She started running in circles flapping her arms.

Yusuke sweat dropped, "Let's just keep walking and ignore her."

The others mumbled agreement as they started walking again. After walking for a while longer the crystals suddenly turned off and stayed off.

"It's dark!" Margaret said.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Arielle said.

"What's that light?" Kuwabara asked pointing down the hall ahead.

"What light, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"The light that I'm pointing at!" 

Everyone agreed that Kuwabara's statement was too stupid to reply to. Instead they just sat in the dark and waited for something to happen.

"Hey! A light!" Tundra said as he looked ahead. The others turned and saw the light too. AS the light drew closer the group could see that there were four people and two animals.

"AUTUMN!!!!!!!" Margaret yelled happily as she glomped Autumn. The crystals started glowing again so that everyone could see each other.

Autumn pushed Margaret away and got up, "Lemme guess, you had pixie sticks in your pocket?" 

"Yup!" Margaret smiled. 

"Koenma? Botan? What are you two doing here?" Yusuke pointed at them.

"We got transported here somehow…" Botan answered.

"What happened to Thorn?" Autumn asked, concerned about her friend.

"Well, Thorn got angry at Dariken and they fought. Thorn lost." Mike answered.

Autumn glared at Dariken and then grinned evilly, "Well, they say you only hurt the ones you love."

Dariken blushed and grumbled. Mike grinned, "If that's true, then Margaret must really love Kuwabara."

Margaret whacked Mike in the head, "Gross! I'd never like **_it!!!_****_"_**__****

Arielle walked over to Autumn, "How'd you get a light?"

Autumn blinked, "You mean to tell me that none of you thought to try taking the glow crystals out of the wall???"

Dariken laughed, "Forgive us, for we have not been blessed with your superior intellect."

Autumn sighed and shook her head. Thorn stirred and woke up. She looked around, "AUTUMN! You're safe!"

Autumn smiled, "You're not getting rid of me that easily!"

Thorn laughed, "I was worried about you… Did you and Kurama do anything while you were gone?"

Autumn blushed and glared at Thorn, "You can't be that hurt if you're still thinking perverted thoughts!"

Hiei walked over to stand near Kurama. "Do you know what happened that caused us to wind up here?" Hiei asked.

"Not yet." Kurama replied.

"I do! I do!" Chuchu jumped up and down.

"You do?" Kurama asked. Everyone stopped to look at her.

Chuchu smiled, "Mutant space cows teleported us here to feed us to their army of zombie weasels!"

Everyone sweat dropped. Freckles sighed, "There are no mutant space cows…"

"Oh yeah, then why are we here?" Chuchu narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know, but it has nothing to do with mutant space cows or zombie weasels."

"Lookie! Lookie! The wall's opening!" Margaret was pointing at the wall. An opening was forming in it. On the other side stairs made of jet led up to two doors made of golden crystal. There were two red glowing crystals on either side of the doors.

"Should we go up?" Yusuke asked.

"Of course we should! There's no other way!" Koenma yelled before taking a step toward the stairs. The others followed except for Autumn, Kurama, Dariken, Thorn, Freckles and Chuchu.

"Don't go up yet!" Dariken called before putting Thorn down. He took her wing and started to examine it.

Autumn took a water bottle full of the glowing water out of her bag. "Drink this, it'll heal you quickly."

"Thanks…What is it?" Thorn asked as she looked at it.

"It's water with crushed glow crystal in it." Autumn replied.

Thorn drank it and gave the bottle back to Autumn. Some of Thorn's minor cuts started to disappear. "Wow, this stuff really works!" Thorn said happily.

Autumn thought for a moment before saying low enough so that the others wouldn't hear, "Thorn, there's something I think you should know about me…"

"What's that?" Thorn asked a bit concerned. 

Dariken looked shocked, "You can't mean…? But Kurama's here!"

"Kurama already knows. Now be quiet. This is my decision to make." Dariken crossed his arms and frowned. Autumn continued, "Thorn, you know how Dariken's been calling me 'little sister' and acting all brotherly toward me and stuff? Well that's because I really am his sister. I'm Phantom Harmony."

Thorn blinked for a moment as her words settled in, "NO WAY!!!!!!!" Autumn motioned for her to be quiet. Thorn continued more quietly, "Well that would explain a lot… I can't believe it! I'm finally meeting my hero! You're my hero! I always wanted to be just like you!" Thorn held out a piece of paper, "Can I have your autograph?"

"Stop making such a fuss! You'll attract attention!" Dariken hissed.

Thorn glared at him, "You knew all along! And you didn't tell me!!!"

"I couldn't. She asked me not to." Dariken pointed at Autumn.

"Yeah, I kinda didn't want anyone to find out, but then Kurama figured it out and I decided it couldn't hurt to tell you."

Dariken's ear twitched in annoyance, "I knew Kurama would figure it out."

Thorn blinked, "Something wrong, Dariken?"

"He hates Kurama." Autumn shrugged.

"You do? But I thought you wanted to help get Kurama and Autumn to go out?"

"I knew you were planning something!" Autumn pointed accusingly at Thorn.

"It doesn't matter how much **_I _hate him. My baby sister fell in love with him and I want her to be happy."**

"Aww how sweet!" Autumn smiled.

"By the way, I've been keeping that necklace safe for you like you wanted me to. I can get it for you if you want." Dariken rubbed the back of his head.

"Necklace?" Thorn asked.

"Long story." Autumn answered.

"Hey! Are you guys ready to go yet?" Yusuke called over at them.

"How's you wing?" Autumn asked Thorn. 

"Completely healed." Thorn flexed her wing and smiled. They then walked over to join the rest of the group. 

Yusuke led the way up the stairs to the doors. He reached out and pushed them both open. The room beyond had walls made of silver crystals. The floor was made of golden crystals. A large white glowing crystal was hanging from the center of the ceiling. In the center of the room was a large slab made of light blue crystal. It was standing upright on a base of light green crystal in the shape of a large bird. The slab had a hole carved in it. The hole was in the shape of a feather. In each corner of the room a waterfall flowed into a hand carved basin much like that of the room with the mist. This room also had mist that was covering the ground but it didn't have the same bewitching effect.

As soon as everyone had stepped into the room the doors slammed shut behind them. Touya and Jin tried to open the doors but they were locked tight. Laughter echoed throughout the room.

"You fools! You still don't realize that I've tricked you all into giving me just what I want!" A shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows. It was wearing a hooded robe but removed the hood to reveal her evil grin. 

"Nuala???" Yusuke asked confused.

"Yes and now, thanks to Koenma's stupidity I will finally be able to plunge both the human world and the demon world into chaos!" Nuala started to laugh insanely.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: Wow that was really long.

Freckles: yeah

Dream: I liked it!

Freckles: Me too!

Dream: ^_^

Freckles: ^_^ can I have a carrot?

Dream: nope, you already had four.


	19. Thinking outside the box

Dream: Hiya peoplez!

Freckles: I'm hungry.

Dream: Today I present to you…Chapter 19!!!!!!! Yay!!!!! *puts on a tape of people clapping*

Freckles: o.O I thought that tape player exploded…

Dream: I fixed it! ^_^ 

Freckles: How did you fix it if it was in tiny pieces?

Dream: With glue and tape and silly putty and… *tape player spontaneously combusts*

Freckles: …

Dream: … MY TAPE PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cries*

Freckles: …*shakes head*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Nuala???" Yusuke asked confused.

"Yes and now, thanks to Koenma's stupidity I will finally be able to plunge both the human world and the demon world into chaos!" Nuala started to laugh insanely.

"I'M NOT STUPID!!!!" Koenma fumed.

"You sure about that?" Autumn smiled.

Koenma glared at Autumn, "Yes I'm sure!"

Autumn rolled her eyes, "I don't know… you seem pretty stupid to me. You did fall for all that 'I want to help you find the crystal' crap that Nuala told you."

Koenma was really angry. Flames were in his eyes. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to say that you knew Nuala was up to no good?"

Autumn shrugged, "Well, yeah."

"I'm really confused!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Maybe this will clear things up for you." Nuala reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out a light blue crystal in the shape of a feather. 

Kuwabara smiled and pointed, "Hey, cool! You found the crystal for us!"

Everyone, including Nuala, sweat dropped. Kuwabara looked around, "What?"

"You baka! She was the one who stole the crystal in the first place!" Autumn pointed at Nuala, "This whole 'search' was just a plot to make it possible for her to make the sacrifice that she needs in order to be able to destroy the balance of nature in Makai and Ningenkai!"

"Oh… wait, how do you know that?" Kuwabara pointed accusingly.

Autumn blinked, "Uhh…he told me!" She pointed at Dariken.

Nuala started cackling evilly, "Everything is going just as I planned! Soon I will have supreme power over every living thing!!!!!"

"What sacrifice?" Thorn asked Dariken.

Dariken opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Nuala. "I will tell them…"

She put the crystal down on a small table before conjuring up a screen. "Observe as I tell you the history of this mountain…

"Long ago there were two giant birds that lived in Makai: The phoenix and the bird of ice, which was called Geluala. 

"The two birds created the seasons in both Ningenkai and Makai. When the phoenix slept and Geluala was awake the season was winter. The snow was created by Geluala's wings as she flew over an area. Summer was when the phoenix roamed the land and Geluala slept. Fall and winter were the seasons when both were awake. During spring the phoenix was dominant and during fall Geluala was dominant.

"One day the two birds started to quarrel. This plunged both worlds into chaos. Makai experienced a long period of hot weather and Ningenkai was plunged into an ice age. The birds fought and fought until both put all of their energy into a final attack. The attacks exploded when they hit causing both birds to die. The bodies fell to the ground and crystallized forming this mountain. A group of demons had been watching the events and rushed over to see what was left of the birds. There was but one feather remaining from each bird. 

"After the birds died the seasons remained in chaos. The group of demons, fox and wolf demons, carved out this mountain. All the tunnels, rooms, and everything else were made by them. The glow crystals are infused with the energy of the two birds that lingers here. The two feathers were magically fused into one. All this calmed the seasons and restored order to the world. The group and their children remained in the mountain for centuries.

"One member of the group, a wolf demon, went crazy and came up with a way to plunge the world into chaos once more in order to control it himself. He came up with a spell that would separate the feather into the two original feathers. He carved this ritual slab to serve the purpose but he was killed by the rest of the group and his work was destroyed.

"The kitsune were given the task of protecting the crystal when the entire group decided that it was time to leave the mountain. They created the shrine on the tallest mountain of the ring of mountains that they named 'The Mist Mountains' and split themselves up into four groups, each going to live on a different one of the smaller mountains. 

"A while back I discovered that not all of that wolf demon's work had been destroyed. There was one record left which held the information about how to get the infinite power of the crystal. It requires that six creatures from the human world and four from the demon world be sacrificed. 

"I decided to get the crystal so I came up with that first lie about the crystal being in danger. I found it easy to trick Koenma into making Phantom take me to it. I was arrogant because Koenma had been clueless to my true intention. I got a bit discouraged when that bitch made it clear that she didn't trust me and that she had no intention of letting me near the crystal. I followed her there anyway, without her knowing, and once she was there I found that it was possible for me to get close to the shrine. I destroyed the shrine and the crystal was sent airborne. I tried to use my magic to get it but Phantom snatched it out of the air and took it away from me. For centuries I've been planning and plotting and now I finally have the crystal in my possession!" Nuala cackled as she finished.

Everyone exchanged worried glances. Nuala turned to take the crystal off of the table, "Now it begins! …WHERE THE HELL IS MY CRYSTAL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?"

"Lose something?" Autumn was sitting on the edge of one of the waterfall basins holding the crystal in her hand. She was smiling.

"WHAT THE HELL???? HOW'D YOU GET THAT???" Nuala yelled angrily.

"You were busy telling your little story so I just walked over and took it. I can't believe nobody noticed!" 

"Alright Autumn!" Thorn made a victory sign with her fingers.

Nuala was furious, "Give that back and die quietly!"

Autumn took out the little rose decorated book Arielle had given her. She opened it and started flipping pages. She then looked back up, "Sorry dieing isn't on my schedule for today. I have an opening for about 80 years from now. Is that alright?"

"Don't toy with me, bitch!" Nuala had flames in her eyes. 

Autumn pouted, "But it's so much fun!"

"I knew I should've killed you when I had the chance! As soon as I saw you my intuition told me you would cause trouble!"

"Cool, do you do Birthday parties?"

"SHUT UP!!!!!"

"That's not very nice, you know." Autumn was smiling happily.

"Neither is this!" Nuala threw a ball of dark energy at her. 

Autumn jumped out of the way of the energy. It hit the wall and exploded leaving a burn mark. She laughed nervously, "You're right, that wasn't very nice… I'm just going to go over here now…" Autumn walked over and stood next to Kurama. 

"Yes, that's right, hide behind your boyfriend! I'll still kill you! I'll kill you while he's watching and make him suffer!"

"Well that's pleasant." Autumn rolled her eyes then yelled, "HEY! He's not my boyfriend! …yet…"

Nuala was cackling insanely again. Autumn blinked, "Wait… why would you want to make **_him _suffer… I'm the one with the crystal…"**

Nuala stopped cackling. She glared at Autumn, "Go to hell."

"Aren't we already in hell?" Margaret asked. 

"I HATE HUMANS!!!!!!" Nuala shook her fist at Margaret. 

"Yeah I know what you mean. Humans always think they know everything. I bet you're really sick of seeing humans. This must really be ticking you off, seeing so many humans in one place. Y'know what you should do? You should send us all away so that you won't have to be bothered by us anymore. You'll be able to relax while listening to the waterfalls and best of all you'll be all alone. Not a soul to bother you." Autumn said in a convincing tone. She shushed Thorn who was giggling.

Nuala was smiling with the image of peace and quiet. She suddenly snapped to her senses and glared at Autumn, "You were trying to trick me into letting all of you get away, weren't you?"

"Darn, I thought for sure it would work!" Autumn snapped her fingers.

"BITCH!" 

"That's the…" Autumn started counting on her fingers, "Third time you've used that word so far. Don't you have any other insults?"

"…are you insane?"

"I prefer to see it as thinking outside the box." Autumn traced a box in the air with her fingers.

"What box?" Kuwabara blinked.

"OMG!!!! Kuwabara can't see the box!!!! He must be blind!!!!" Autumn gasped.

Kuwabara started to panic, "What??? Blind??? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I'm blind!!!!!" He started running in frantic circles until he crashed into a wall and got knocked unconscious. 

Everyone stared at him for a while. Margaret and Autumn both poked Kuwabara with their feet. He twitched. Yusuke pointed at Nuala, "Can we kill her now and get it over with? I'm getting bored."

"Thorn, protect Autumn and the others." Dariken said as he went to join Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Jin, and Touya for the fight.

"Right." Thorn looked around, "Uhh…where exactly is Autumn?"

"Noooooooo! Autumn left me alone!!!!" Freckles cried.            

Autumn had walked over to a doorway in the corner of the room. She reached out to poke it, but fell to the ground when the room started to shake. "What the hell is going on???" she yelled.

Nuala had cast a spell that was causing the room to collapse. Thorn ushered her group over to the doorway Autumn was near. They all started clawing at the door. It opened revealing the park from earlier. Thorn yelled over to Dariken, "We found a portal out of here! Come on!"

"We'll catch up! You guys go ahead!" Dariken yelled back as Nuala was fighting all of them. 

Autumn and Thorn helped everyone else through before following. They were standing in the park. People were running around and having a good time. Nobody seemed to notice the big door that was right in the middle of the park. 

"I hope Kurama and the others get out alright…" Autumn said looking at the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dream: MOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! 

Freckles: she says hello.

Dream: yup. ICKY!!!! Tomorrow is turkey day! Hey pplz, check out my site: click on da door! Da door I say!!!

Freckles: nething else?

Dream: … o yeah!!!!! THANKS FER ALL THE REVIEWS SHADOW!!!!!!! I FEEL LOVED!!!!!!!! ^_^

Freckles: So? They still like me better.

Dream: QUIET, CHEESE MONKEY!

Freckles: … well the last chappy should be up soon. Mebbe tomorrow. Keyword: mebbe. If not tomorrow then Friday night. 


	20. Sayonara wa mirai no hajimari A goodbye

Dream: Sorry I didn't update sooner, I've been really stressed out recently. Be prepared for a chapter full of any random ideas that pop out of my head. I didn't want to write a short stupid chapter just for the sake of getting it done. well here it is… chap. 20! All your questions will finally be answered!!!!

Freckles: …if all their questions are going to be answered in this chapter then what are you gonna put in the sequel?

Dream: …be quiet…

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"I hope Kurama and the others get out alright…" Autumn said looking at the door.

There was a blinding flash before the door disappeared. Yusuke was sitting on the floor grumbling. Hiei was standing there with an expressionless face. Jin and Touya were just there. Dariken was yawning and Kurama sighed in relief. Autumn smiled before running over and hugging Kurama.

"I was so worried about you! Don't ever do that again!" Autumn blinked a couple times before letting go of Kurama and taking a step backwards. She was blushing, "heh…sorry bout that…"

Kurama smiled at her, "Don't be." He then pulled her into another hug.

Thorn was laughing as she walked over, "Well I guess Nuala was good for something after all."

Dariken put his hand on Thorn's head, "Let them have their little moment."

Just then Yusuke looked around, "Uhh…where's Kuwabara?"

"…I thought you guys were going to bring him back…" Thorn blinked.

"Oops…" Yusuke ran his hand through his hair.

"So then that means…" Kurama said, still hugging Autumn.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they let it sink in. Thorn scratched her head, "Soooooooo…that was fun."

"I never would have imagined that a weak little human girl could stand up to a demon so fearlessly." Touya pointed at Autumn with his thumb...

Autumn glared and pulled away from Kurama. "WEAK LITTLE HUMAN GIRL?????? I'LL SHOW YOU A WEAK LITTLE HUMAN GIRL!!!!!!!!" She picked up the nearest stick and swung it at Touya. He stepped to the side and Autumn's stick banged into the tree he was standing under.

"Tch. Did you honestly think you could hurt me with that?" Touya crossed his arms.

Autumn smiled at him, "Nope." 

Touya blinked before a shaking was heard from the tree branches above him. He looked up just as a storm of acorns fell out of the tree on top of him. Autumn whistled and a swarm of squirrels ran over and piled on top of him while eating the acorns.

Everyone started laughing. Dariken smiled, "Like I said before, you're awfully violent for a pacifist."

"Been around Teresa and Margaret too much." Autumn dropped the stick and walked over to stand next to Kurama again. "Besides, I don't like being called 'a weak little human girl'."

Freckles walked over and put his paw on Autumn's leg. "Make Kurama give you his rose. I want to eat it." Freckles said.

Autumn blinked at him, "Guess we can't understand what the animals are saying anymore…"

"I can! I can!" Chuchu hopped over and smiled, "I can understand all languages! Speckles wants to eat Kuwama's wose."

Autumn sighed, "Little pig rabbit… Never stops being hungry…"

Meanwhile Margaret was parading around happily with a pixie stick in her hand singing 'Joy to the world! Kuwabara's dead!' Suddenly a gagging noise was heard and a portal opened back up. Kuwabara's unconscious body was flung through the portal before it closed again. 

Autumn poked the body with her foot, "Is it alive?"

Kurama knelt down and felt for breath and a pulse, "I think he needs mouth to mouth resuscitation…"

Yusuke shrugged, "I think one of the girls should do it. It won't be as awkward that way."

"Gross!" Autumn, Margaret, Arielle, and Thorn said at the same time.

"How about you Botan?" Yusuke asked.

Botan shook her head fiercely. Yusuke sighed, "Well one of you has to do it!"

"Tell you what Yusuke. If you can answer one simple riddle I'll give Kuwabara mouth to mouth. If not, then you have to. Deal?"

Yusuke thought for a moment, "Deal!"

Arielle gasped, "What??? Autumn are you crazy??? If he gets it right you'll have to give KUWABARA mouth to mouth!!!!!!"

Autumn rolled her eyes, "Right, like that'll ever happen!"

"I feel bad for Yusuke. He's going to have to give Kuwabara mouth to mouth!" Thorn laughed.

"What makes you so sure I'll lose??? How hard can it be to answer a stupid riddle???" Yusuke yelled. Everyone stared at him.

Autumn cleared her throat, "Alright, here's the riddle: A blonde walks into a doctor's office. She says to the doctor: 'everywhere I touch it hurts, watch, ow, ow, ow. What's wrong with me doctor??' So? What's wrong with her?"

Yusuke blinked, "Damn! I thought you said this was going to be a simple riddle!"

Autumn shrugged, "It is."

Yusuke thought for a moment before smiling, "I know! She has a sun burn!"

Autumn blinked before smiling, "We have a winner! You get to give Kuwabara mouth to mouth!"

"So I got it wrong?" 

"Yup. The correct answer was her finger was broken." Autumn smiled and pointed at Kuwabara, "We had a deal Yusuke."

Yusuke grumbled before walking over and giving Kuwabara mouth to mouth. Everyone gagged and coughed. Autumn pulled out a small digital camera and took a picture. Kuwabara started to stir and then to scream when he saw what Yusuke was doing. 

"URAMESHI!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!" Kuwabara stood up and took a few steps back.

"I just saved your life! The least you can do is thank me!" Yusuke yelled.

"This is definitely going on my website!" Autumn started laughing as she looked at the picture on the camera screen.

Kurama looked at the screen and covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing. It didn't work. Yusuke noticed Kurama laughing, "What's so funny Kurama?"

Autumn held out the camera for everyone to see the picture. "You two make such a cute couple!" she laughed.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!" Yusuke yelled, "DELETE THAT!!!!!"

"No way, it's going on my website so all the world can see!" 

"NO!!!!!!!" Yusuke and Kuwabara said at the same time.

"Autumn, where's the crystal?" Botan walked over.

Autumn reached into her pocket and took out the crystal. It was glowing brightly. She blinked, "Is it supposed to glow?"

Koenma walked over and took the crystal. The glow faded and disappeared. He moved it closer to Autumn and it started glowing again. "Odd… it seems to be reacting to your spirit energy…"

Autumn fidgeted and laughed nervously, "That's crazy. Why would it do that?"

Kurama interrupted what Koenma was about to say, "Well Nuala did say that you would be helping us locate the crystal. It probably has something to do with that."

Koenma looked doubtful but he nodded, "I suppose so…"

"Is Nuala dead?" Thorn said, changing the subject.

"No. She escaped at the last moment. Hopefully she won't bother us for a while." Dariken sighed.

Margaret pouted, "Does this mean that all of you will be leaving now?"

"Yes. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama have a plane to catch later today." Botan answered.

Autumn crossed her arms, "Well that sucks!"

Thorn pouted, "You mean all my hard work was for nothing???" 

Dariken laughed, "Of course not! They know how to use a phone!"

Thorn nodded, "Ah, yes. The phone. They can call each other."

"Wouldn't that be kinda expensive? I mean, my mom doesn't even let me talk to Margaret because of the cost. I don't think she's going to like the idea of me calling Japan…" Autumn pointed out.

"Then Kurama will call you." Thorn nodded.

"There's also email." Dariken pointed out.

"Ah, yes!" Thorn smiled.

"There just gonna keep making plans for us, aren't they?" Autumn said to Kurama.

"Seems that way." He replied.

"So, you wanna keep in touch?" 

"If you want to." Kurama and Autumn exchanged phone numbers and email addresses.

Margaret started clinging to Hiei and Jin, "No!!!! I don't want you to leave!!!!" 

"Let…go…of…me…" Hiei twitched.

Jin smiled, "Don't worry. We'll see each other again. Eventually."

"Hey, can we be spirit detectives since we helped get the crystal back." Mike asked.

"**_You_** did not help get the crystal back." Autumn crossed her arms, "Besides, why would you want to be a spirit detective? The whole thing seems pretty stupid to me."

"I dunno. I'd get to skip school. If we were spirit detectives you'd get to spend more time with Kurama." Mike smiled at Autumn.

"Why are we even having this conversation?" Autumn asked. 

"You guys couldn't be spirit detectives. You need to be spiritually aware and able to use your spirit energy as a weapon." Kuwabara nodded.

"Kuwabara feels special." Autumn said.

"Kuwabara **_is _special. In a bad way." Mike added.**

"HEY!!!!" Kuwabara yelled.

"The evil moose will devour you soul, that it will." Autumn replied.

Margaret started laughing, "Evil moose!"

Arielle put her hand on Autumn's forehead, "Are you feeling ok?"

"I feel fine, mommy." Autumn said in a childish voice.

Arielle shook her head and walked away, "You people scare me."

"YAY!!!! I'm fulfilling my New Year's resolution!" Autumn smiled.

Chuchu started running in circles again. Freckles fell asleep. Tundra was just there and Precious was begging for attention. Jin looked around, "We should get going now. It's getting late."

Kurama sighed and took a rose out of his hair. He put it in Autumn's hair so that it was resting on her ear. He then kissed her cheek, "I'll miss you."

Autumn blushed and smiled, "I'll miss you too…and if you don't call me I'll hunt you down and hurt you."

Arielle nodded, "Trust me. I've known this girl since first grade. She's not kidding about that."

Mike laughed, "You only hurt the ones you love, right?"

Autumn kicked a rock at Mike. He blinked, "What was that for???"

"I love you." Autumn smiled slyly. She then turned to Dariken. 

He stepped behind Thorn, "No! Stay back! No rocks! No pain!!!!"

Everyone started laughing. Botan, Koenma, Jin, and Touya then left. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama started walking away. 

Autumn was waving, "Bye Kurama!"

"Autumn, are you crying?" Thorn pointed at her.

"NO! I just have something in my eye!"

"That is such a bad lie." Thorn rolled her eyes.

"Shut up."

Thorn smiled, "Autumn and Kurama sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"I said shut up! STOP TALKING!!!!!!!" Autumn started chasing Thorn in circles.

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Dream: Well, that's that.

Freckles: What's what?

Dream: That's the story, it's over.

Freckles: …NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dream: o.O;;; 

Freckles: WHY???????????????????????

Dream: Ok…umm…how bout if I give all of you a little excerpt from the sequel?

Freckles: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Dream: ^_^ here ya go!

~*~*~Coming soon to a computer near you:

    Autumn flopped down onto her bed. School was annoying, to say the least. All the idiots at her school were driving her insane. The racism was extremely annoying. Her town truly was 'White Islip.' She loved weekends. Two whole days without hearing or seeing any idiots. 

She looked at her clock and smiled when she heard the phone ringing. _It__'__s Sunday at __4 PM__. The only good thing about Sundays_…____

She rushed to find the phone. "ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!!! WHERE'S THE PHONE???????????" 

Chuchu, who had invited herself to live at Autumn's house, poked her head out from under Autumn's pile of junk. "It's unda hea!" she said pulling out the phone.

"What was the phone doing under my junk pile? Hello?" Autumn asked after answering the phone.

"Did you misplace your phone again?" a voice said over the phone.

"No, Chuchu hid it." 

"Yup! I hide things good!" Close-up of large stuffed animal "hidden" under a piece of paper.

Autumn sighed before smiling, "So how was your day, Kurama?"

"Fine. I have a surprise for you." 

"A surprise?!? Yay! What is it?" 

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise!" Kurama laughed.

"Can't you at least gimme a hint?" 

"Nope. You'll find out tomorrow."

"NO! I can't wait that long! The suspense is killing me!!! ACK!!!" Autumn fell dramatically on her bed letting the phone bounce on her blanket. She lay still.

Chuchu poked Autumn. "You okay?...SPECKLES!!!!!! AUTUMN DIED!!!!!!! SPECKLES!!!!!" Chuchu started running in frantic circles. 

Autumn burst out laughing and sat up. "I'm not dead!"

"Oh… I knew that…"

Autumn picked the phone back up, "Now, about that surprise…"

"What surprise?" Autumn could almost hear Kurama's smirk.

She made a sniffling noise, "You don't love me enough to tell me…"

"No! That's not it! I want you to be surprised! I do love you!"

Autumn smiled, "Aww! Ok, Kurama, I'll wait."

A loud crashing noise came from the kitchen. Autumn walked in and groaned, "Kurama? I'm gonna hafta call you back, ok?"

~*~End preview

Dream: So?

Freckles: I wanna know what happens!

Dream: you'll all have to wait and see! MUAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!!! *cackles evilly*

  
  



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